The Sonic Chronicles: The Maginaire's Revenge
by ThePrincessOfHyrule
Summary: After Eggman's latest scheme goes horribly wrong, the Sonic Team is blasted back into Maginaryworld. But when Illumina learns that Sonic and Amy hold the key to Mobius' salvation, she is determined to make sure they don't leave alive this time. Completed!
1. Character Profiles

**Character Profiles**

**Heroes:**

**Sonic the Hedgehog: **The famous blue blur is the main character in this story. With supersonic speed unparalled by anyone in the universe, full to the brim of cocky comebacks and willing to run through fire for any of his friends, Sonic seems to have it all...until a startling event causes him to unearth new, formidable gifts (thanks to the seven Chaos Emeralds) inside himself. When he discovers that he must play a terrifyingly significant role in one being's rutheless quest for immortality, will he use his powers for good...or evil?

**Amy Rose: **The self appointed girlfriend of Sonic the Hedgehog, Amy posesses real hope and determination, and coupled with her uncanny strength and Piko Piko hammer, many will learn to fear the sight of her seemingly innocent exterior. Everything changes, however, when she accidentally discovers her love for Sonic has given her lethally potent magical powers...abilities that are coveted by a certain entity. Abilities that entity is willing to kill for to obtain...

**Miles "Tails" Prower: **The smartest fox and greatest mechanic in all of Mobius (though would have you believe otherwise) Tails' quick thinking and cool gadgetry have gotten him and his friends out of countless sticky situations. The techno whiz may have met his match, however, in the supernatural beings who make his high-tech gizmos look like plastic toys. Can he overcome the odds stacked against them, or will the tradgedy that is sure to come render him unwilling and incapable of vengence?

**Knuckles the Echidna: **The hard to read tough guy that is the last of the line of ancient gaurdians bound to the Master Emerald, Knuckles is renowned for his brawn, not his brains. Despite this, he is still a great friend of Sonic the Hedgehog's and seems to find himself shirking gaurd duty in favour of having adventures all over Mobius. But these adventures look like walks in the park compared to the coming dangers, and his bonds of friendships are pushed to the extreme when he must chooose between what is easy and what is right. And even if he passes that test, will he be able to forgive the friend that betrays them all to such drastic results that it costs more than one of their group their lives?

**Cosmo the Seedrian: **Daughter of the long since deceased Erthia, Cosmo is the last living member of the ancient Seedrain clan. Held as a prisoner by the great threat to Sonic and his gang as a storyteller and witness to thousands of murders, Cosmo, despite her past, is a peace loving girl thrust into a world in which she does not belong. But, driven by her desire to defeat the one who killed her family, Cosmo soon takes up an alliance with Sonic and Co. Will she have the strength to do what is asked of her? The fate of the world may very well rest in her hands...

**Cream the Rabbit: **Sweet and sheltered, Cream is a young rabbit that yearns to be appart of Sonic's group but is incapacitated by her youth and inexpirience. Rarely seen without her little companion, Cheese the Chao, Cream's world is soon to change drastically, whether she likes it or not...

**Cheese the Chao:** Tiny, powder blue and with an onion shaped head, there's not much about Cheese you can't like. Though he can only say one word ("Chao!") he can always get his thoughts heard by Cream, who alone seems to be able to understand him. But all that Cheese knows is about to change, and all because he wandered off alone into the forest...

**Middle Men**

**Lumina Flowlight:** Half of the divine goddess Illumina and Void's twin, Lumina is kind and gentle, the opposite of her brother. She guided Sonic, Amy, Tails and Knuckles through Maginaryworld a few years back in attempt to free Illumina from her own darkness, and was then ordered to care for Cosmo during her years of imprisonment. But when Void is given a seemingly impossible task by the evil that rules them, Lumina undergoes a personality transformation and will stop at nothing to save her brother, even if it means destroying everyone who comes in their way.

**Rouge the Bat: **Beautiful, cunning and very resourceful, Rouge is an infamous jewel theif who causes collecters worldwide to loose sleep at night. Sometimes-girflfriend of Knuckles the Echidna, Rouge makes a decision that is soon to change all their lives forever. Though it's too late to stop the horrific events from unfolding, she can still try and stop innocent beings from suffering from her mistake. But will she? Can Rouge choose between the dangerous, yet rewarding world of criminals, or will she renounce her wrong doing ways and try to make good on the right side of the law?

**Villains**

**Illumina: ** The main antagonist in the story, Illumina was once the kind, gentle and beautiful goddess of the dreamworld, Maginaryworld, but upon her hearing the legend of immortality, her heart has frozen over and she has murderously combed the universe for the two that will either destroy or immortalize her. Posessed with already divine magical powers, such as the ability to plant visions in others' minds and able to freeze time, Illumina finally learns the location of those she has so avidly sought and it seems no one can stop her...

**Void:** The other half of the divine goddess Illumina and the twin of the fair Lumina Flowlight, Void, as his name implies, if the essence of hopelessness and distress. Able to drain creatures of their energy to draw strength, Void is indeed a formidable enemy. Sent to Mobius under the charade of working for , he is actually searching for the two that will make Illumina immortal. And if he finds them, the entire universe will surely suffer the consequences...

**Eggman: **An immensely fat, blad man with a humungeous mustache, Eggman, or as he constantly inisists on being called, , is the diabolical-possibly narsassistic- evil genius whose hate for Sonic the Hedgehog is unparalled. His main goal in life is to collect the seven Chaos Emeralds and to destroy Mobius, (upon ahcieveing that, he will rebuild it and appoint himself as rule, renaming it Robotnikland). When he hatches a new scheme to do so, how can he know that it will all go horribly wrong?

**Sub Villains**

**Epona:** A denizen of Dark Maginaryworld, Epona is the mysterious, catlike messenger of Illumina and, unbeknowest to the goddess, madly in love with Void. Her love for him makes her a willing particpant in Illumina's quest for power and vengence, and her desire to prove herself to him. But is she so blinded by love that she cannot see the possibility that the one she so admires might be using her as a pawn?

**Chaos:** A liquidy monster who inhabits the Master Emerald, Chaos will stop at nothing to consume the seven Chaos Emeralds and cause what his name implies. Employed by Dr. Eggman as part of the evil genius' latest scheme, Chaos will stop at nothing to get revenge on the ones who destroyed him last time he tried to wreck havoc...

**Void's Children: **Although they aren't naturally born from him, Doom, Fear, Rage, Misery, Sorrow and Hate were each created by Void's excess despair. Each of them are widely feared throughout Maginaryworld, but never dared attempt to overthrow the one who restrained them (Illumina). Now, with her change of heart, the six of them are given free reign in Mobius, under orders to eliminate Sonic and his friends...


	2. The Beginning of the End

"D-doctor Eggman?" the tiny robot squeaked.

The doctor turned slowly, glaring at his robot assistant. "What? I'm very busy, Boto!"

The robot bowed. "Y-yes s-sir. It's just that Chaos has re-returned, sir."

Eggman's eyes flashed, mood brightened considerably. "Send him in!" he barked gleefully, settling himsel f into his black swivel chair.

"Yes sir. V-very good sir." Boto disappeared, doors closing behind him with a faint hiss.

Eggman leaned backwards, spaghetti arms folded behind his blad head, not noticing as a bluish liquid began to ooze down from the ceiling. He was lost in thought, thinking of how he had spent months locating the four Crystals of Chaos, and once he'd managed that, even more were focused on reassembling his old ally. Once he had succeeded, however, he had giving the monster a short briefing and informed him that it was his first duty to find the Maginaire, Void, one of the few he was sure he would be able to count on to help him defeat Sonic and his friends.

Eggman clenched his fists at the thought of his adversary. Sonic, the meddling hedgehog who'd foiled his plans once too often._ Of course, the blue bozo's nothing without his friends, _Eggman thought, as the faces of the others flashed across his mind. Tails, the brainy fox who was deluded enough to believe that he was smarter than the greatest scientist the world had ever known. And Knuckles, the freak obsessed with protecting his precious Master Emerald. Then there was Amy, the silly girl who had gotten herself captured by him more times than you could count, though she still delivered him painful blows both physically and mentally on occassion.

Rubbing his chin, Eggman broke away from his reverie, only to be startled by a movement out of the corner of his eye. The doctor whirled around, then gasped. Chaos was standing before him, his form shivering convulsively, not quite solid but not totally liquid, either. He glowed faintly, and was translucent enough to be able to see his pale grey brain lurking behind bright emerald eyes.

Eggman forced himself to gulp, then stood up from his chair in favour of bowing deeply. "Chaos, my friend! Are you alone, or did you bring our..guest?"

Chaos blinked his sharp emerald eyes, then spoke in a high cold voice of shattered ice. "With our guest, of course. But I needed to convince him, master."

Eggman twisted his mustache with one gloved hand. "Convince?" he asked, intrigued.

Chaos inclined his head. "Yes; I travelled to Illumina's kingdom, as you requested. I met with the goddess and told her you wished to meet with Void. At first she was reluctant to agree, but I reminded her of how you had been involved in freeing her land when it was in its time of need, that you had saved it from destruction, and eventually she relented.

"It appeared that the goddess was made of two beings; Void and Lumina Flowlight. I wasted no time in imprisoning the Flowlight girl in their silly Temple of Light, and Void, who had no objection to this, listened to your request and consented to come with me. Would you like to speak with him?"

_Obviously, you moronic fool!_ But Eggman did not speak his mind, contenting himslef with, "Of course I would."

At this, a portal of purplish light ripped itself into existance, and gale force winds tore through his laboratory, accompanied by a chorus of horrible, keening screams, all striking terror in his heart, rendering Eggman incabable of moving, making him a prisoner to his fear. Papers soared, test tubes shattered, and Eggman was forced backwards, staggering into his chair, while Chaos laughed at the madness. But as soon as it had appeared, the portal closed, and the terror that had consumed him vanished, though the screams were still ringing faintly in his ears. In its place, however, hovered a slim ghostly figure clothed in robes of sapphire with a jade jewel afixed upon his chest. He had a curtain of bright emerald hair and pale grey skin, which made his sapphire-amethyst eyes look huge and gaunt. Void's lip was curled and he looked disgruntled at something, and he gave off an aura of cold disdain. But that was nothing compared to his voice, which was high and cold and oddly child like, though Eggman had never heard a sound less like a human's.

"We meet again, Doctor Robotnik," he murmured, inclining his head in an acknowlegding bow. Eggman shuddered at the monster's fear inducing voice, but forced himself to pull himself together and hitched a polite smile upon his face.

"You don't know how much I appreciate this, Void. It's-"

"There's no need for pleasantries, Doctor," Void said, his voice dropping a couple degrees in temperature as he cut across Eggman. "Chaos informed me that you need help with some sort of scheme, and I have not made the journey from Maginaryworld to listen to rambling."

Eggman, who would usually not toletate being interrupted, merely blinked and smiled politely, cowed by the iciness of Void's voice and the chilling manner in which he spoke.

"Very well. To business, then." Eggman turned and began typing on a wafer thin keyboard, expertly typed in his password and went through several eye and hand print scans before clearing his throat and saying, 'What is it you eat, Void?"

The Maginaire laughed, a sound like nails on a chalkboard that left Chaos smiling and Eggman wincing, then replied, "I feed on the dispair of creatures around me. It's nice that you thought to provide me with some at this reunion."

Eggman shivered involuntarily, choosing to ignore Void's comment and, skimming his hand across his keyboard, he tuned on the intercom and barked, "Boto, bring in the prisoner!" He then turned to face the unlikely pair before him and, clapping his hand together, said, "So, to business. I need the two of you to gather as much strength as you can. Chaos, I know that the Chaos Emeralds are usually difficult to find, but I just so happen to have one here now-"Chaos' bright eyes widened in delight at his words. "-and Void, I know it should be a sinche to gather energy here on Mobius. Ah, Boto," he added, a smile spreading across his face as his yellow robot came in, tugging on a rope to get a sobbing pastel blue rabbit to follow him.

"P-please,"stammered the rabbit, in a pleading soprano voice, cowering in fear and covering her face in her hands. "J-just let me g-go! I don't w-want t-to-"

But exactly what the rabbit didn't want Eggman never knew, for Void swooped upon the rabbit and the world flashed white, the only sounds the rabbit's high pitched screams of terror, which cut off abruptly after several seconds. His vision clearing, Eggman saw that Void was standing over the crumpled form of the prisoner, his childish face annoyed.

"Hardly gave me anything, the weak creature,"he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "It was nearly unconcious anyways."

Eggman shuddered delicately, and Void looked up, remembering he was not alone. "Boto," Eggman barked, though his voice shook slightly as he addressed the quivering robot. "Take her away."

Boto was reduced to a yellow streak as he sped from the room, dragging the unconcious rabbit behind him.

"And for me?" rasped Chaos, his pupilless eyes flashing in annoyance at his lack of sustenance. Eggman's eyes flashed to him and, almost absently, he pulled out the white Chaos Emerald from his pocket and tossed it at the monster as an owner does to a dog. With an earsplitting screech Chaos dove upon the jewel, and there was a flash of brightest blue, which dispersed almost instantly to reveal a huger, more grotesque and terrifying form of Chaos, who was stooping to remain upright. Fully aware that he was the least powerful being in the room, Eggman cleared his throat and spoke in an effort to remind the two who was leader.

"The purpose of your invitations to Mobius is not an eating frenzy, but to help me dominate that. And to that, I need you two to be in top condition. Chaos, you need to find two more Chaos Emeralds and then continue with phase 2 of the plan, which I'm about to tell you. Void, you can eat all you want, but I need you to stopwhen Chaos does."

Both monsters nodded, and Eggman relaxed slightly before continuing. "After you've done so, you need to capture Sonic the Hedgehog, and his friends, Tails, Knuckles and Amy," Void's eyes narrowed slightly in recognition and Chaos let out a feral snarl at their names. "Chaos, you're in charge of capturing Tails and Knuckles. Void, that leaves you with Sonic and Amy. If they prove too difficult, which they probably will, go for the girl; Sonic will definately go after her."

"Oh don't worry," Void said, displaying even white teeth and smiling in a way that made Eggman want to scream. "They won't be able to outmatch me." And he vanished in a crack of green light. Chaos followed suit, melting into a wast pool of thick blue goo and seeping through the metal flooring.

Eggman collapsed into his chair, one hand covering his face, relieved at both monsters' departure. "Boto,"he shouted, more for something to do than anything else. "Clean up this mess, or I'll have you incinerated!"

"Y-yes sir!" Boto squeaked, already flying aroudn the room, collecting loose papers. Eggman lowered his hand and spun around in his chair, facing his vast touch screen moniter. If he wanted to dominate this world, he needed to get Sonic and his friends out of the picture, something he was confident that he would be able to accomplish. But after that, he needed some sort of back up power source, just in case Chaos and Void failed him.

"Not the Chaos Emeralds," he muttered absently to himself, lamenting that Chaos needed them for energy. He glared at his unhelpful touch screen, arguing silently with himself. Chaos could prove useful; he was capable of vast ammounts of devastation and an asset to forcing the Mobians into submission if they put up a fight. But Sonic and Co. had proven that defeating Chaos was something they could do without over exerting themselves...

"And if Chaos fails, I still have Void..." Suddenly, Eggman's face split into an evil grin as inspiration struck. As he thought, Chaos was collecting two of the remaining four Chaos Emeralds. Once he returned, with Tails and Knuckles captured, he would have Void drain him of the Chaos Emeralds, reimprison him in the four Crystals of Chaos and then dispose of them. This would leave only four Emeralds to go, a terrifying monster at his disposal and world domination withing his overlong grasp!

Eggman leaned back in his swivel chair, shaking his head at his own brilliance. Sometimes, his own genius amazed him. "Honour amongst fiends, indeed!" he snorted, then laughed at his improvisation.

Sonic leaned back in the grass, picking a flower at random. He closed his eyes and inhaled its scent, eyes closing in contentment.

It was a peaceful day on Emerald Coast; there were no noisy beachgoers around to disturb him, and listening to the gentle crashing of the waves was, in his opinion, better than trying to swim amongst them. It had been incredibly quiet on the mayhem front for the past couple of months, something he couldn't be bothered with to get worked up about right now, relaxed as he was.

"Where are ya, Eggy?" he yawned disconcertedly, stretching his arms behind his head as he wondered what had silenced Eggman for so long. Of course, even if he was cooking up some sort of dasterdly scheme, he was confident he, Tails, Knuckles and Amy would be able to deal with it.

Tails, he knew, was at his workshop, upgrading the landing on his already near-perfect plane, the Tornado. Knuckles was obviously gaurding the Master Emerald, or else shirking gaurd duty for a little one-on-one with Rouge. Amy, Sonic thought amusedly, was probably trying to figure out how to lure him out on a date. He thought of the many times she had tried to-and failed – in the past, and couldn't help but smile at the thought. _I wonder what she'll try next,_ he wondered, closing his eyes._ Maybe she'll buy a new dress to show off her figure, or some new perfume, roses or something-_

He sat bolt upright, shaking his head. What was he doing ,fantasizing about Amy? That had never happened before. Taking a deep breath, he shook his head more vigerously. He looked down at the flower in his hand, and realized that it was a rose, sweet smelling and bright pink, just like-

"Pull yourself together!" he muttered, dropping the flower. He consoled himself with the fact that it was probably just the heat messing with his mind; he had seen Knuckles actually singing once, in really hot weather, which proved strange things happened when it got too hot. But a small part of him was still thinking about his female friend, and in an effort to stop himself, he leaped to his feet and sprinted away from the ocean, muttering, "Go see Tails." as he did so. The distraction proved effective; soon he was running so fast that he left a shallow gorge in the ground he passed over, reduced to a blue streak, faster than sound could catch him, and in what he was sure was record- breaking time Sonic found himself standing outside Tails' workshop on the outskirts of the mountains.

Breathing heavily, Sonic stared at the wooden door, upon which a sign reading 'Miles Prower,Mechanic' was fixed. Once he had caught his breath, Sonic entered the building, which was a combination between a house, laboratory and workshop, and to him was a second home.

As he walked through the main room, Sonic's anxiety left him; Tails' house was packed with stuff, but was not overcrowded. The walls were white washed and there was an old, squashy brown couch and armchair in the center of the room, facing a television affixed to the wall that was currently on mute, showing the news. Sonic passed through the living room and into the kitchen, which was dedicated to a large wooden table and several matching chairs, a stainless silver fridge and stove that were seperated by a long counter, and an old school yellow cukoo clock, which showed the time to be almost four in the afternoon.

Sonic passed through this too and walked down the hallway, which was covered in photos. Most of them were of Tails holding his many inventions and fixing things and such, but several were of him and Sonic, Knuckles and Amy, at various locations. Sonic stopped dead in his tracks, staring at one in particualr, which featured the four of them recently at Emerald Coast together. His attention was focused mostly on Knuckles' arm around Amy, who was smiling hugely. And then, suddenly, illogically, anger flared inside Sonic, and he found himself wishing that he could jump into the picture and hurl the knucklehead into the ocean behind them-

"Cukoo! Cukoo!" chimed the clock from the other room, and Sonic whirled around, his anger intensifying. He sprinted into the kitchen and faced the cloak, shouting, "I'll show _you _ whose cukoo!" and made to tear it from the wall, but someone spoke confusedly from behind him.

"Sonic?"

Sonic turned, and saw Tails standing in the hallway, patches of blackened grease covering his fur, a confused expression on his face. Then he blinked, and spoke as if nothing had happened. "I thought you were at Emerald Coast today?"

Sonic shrugged, not wanting to tell Tails the real reason why he was here for fear that he would begin to question his sanity. Tails, however, smiled hugely and said, "Well, since you're hear, do you want to come see the Tornado? I just uprgraded the landing, is all." His bright blue eyes shone at the prospect, and he bounced on the soals of his feet.

"Sure." Sonic said, unable to keep himself from smiling at his friend's excitement, and with a squeal Tails turned and flew down the hallway, his two tails flying out behind him. Sonic followed, his eyes on the floor, and he chanted, _Don't look up, don't look up,_ inside his head as he passed the picture. He was so determined not to look up that he nearly crashed headfirst into Tails, who was frozen before him, one arm extended towards the Tornado like a game show host.

"Wow!" Sonic exclaimed, and there was no other word for it; when Tails had said 'upgraded the landing' , he hadn't expected any change in the plane except for the wheels. But the word 'Tornado' now gleamed in sleek white writing on the side facing them, and the plane now shone oceaning blue, the exact colour of Sonic's fur, and the precise orangy- yellow of Tails' fur. He had remodelled the Tail so that it was no longer sticking up akwardly behind it, but made it flat and streamlined; the propellers could have sheared Sonic's fur in about a second, and gleamed lethal silver. Four leather blue seats poked their headrests timidly out of the cockpit, and the glass covering seemed to have been replaced.

"It's good, eh?" Tails said, smirking at the awed expression on Sonic's face. "I thought there were some other things I needed to fix too. I guess you're impressed?"

Sonic swallowed and looked at Tails, saying, "Am I?" and the fox's smile widened.

"We can take it out later,"he said, walking over to the side of the plane. "I just need to finish with the landing gears, Amy was just saying that we won't be able to survive another crash landing like-"

"Amy was here?" Sonic asked suprisedly, unsure as to why the news suprised him so much.

"Yeah,"Tails said, frowning at Sonic's expression. "Watched me build for a while, then left. Why?"

Sonic shrugged, not trusting himself to speak. Tails stopped frowning, though his eyes remained suspicious. "Well, make yourself at home, Sonic; I'm pretty sure this'll take a while to do."

He threw himself underneath the plane, only his red and white shoes visible, and Sonic walked over to the old yellow couch pushed up against the wall, suddenly exhausted. He flung himself upon it and was asleep almost instantly, welcoming the cool blackness after the heat and confusion about Amy...

He was standing in a vast green clearing full of swaying roses, the wind roaring in his ears, trying to force him backwards, but he would not relent. He forced himself to keep running forwards, desperate to get to the top of the hill, knowing that if he allowed himself to rest, it would be too late-

Someone screamed from the other side of the hill, and with a growl Sonic flung himself into a tight ball and shot up the remaining distance, his heart pounding in his chest as fear rendered him incapable of thought.

A high, cold, bone chilling laugh emenated from the bottom of the hill belonging to a pale, alien creature with shocking green hair and terrifying sapphire-amethyst eyes that were fixed upon the shaking girl before him.

"AMY!" Sonic shouted in warning, and he flung himself down the hill, racing towards his friend, preparing to attack-

Void laughed even louder, and he turned to face Sonic, fixing his horrifying eyes upon him instead. Sonic froze, paralysed with fear as the monster's gaze held his own, terror seeping through him like a poison, freezing him in mid step as his energy seeped out of him...

Feeling horribly weak and helpless, Sonic fell to his knees, unable to understand what was wrong, why he couldn't keep running. Amy screamed even louder than before, but unable to look up, he could only choke out, "A-Amy! R...run...."

A horrible, triumphant laughter filled his ears, followed by a horrible chorus of agonized screaming that tore through his brain like a hurricaine, and Sonic, unable to stand it, felt himself loosing conciousness...

"Sonic, _HELP ME!_" came Amy's pleading cry, mingling amongst the screams, but he could no sooner help her than stop Void.

"Doctor Robotnik sends his regards," came a high pitched, chilling voice, and then everything went black.

"NOOOOOO!"

"Sonic! _Sonic!_ Wake up!"

"VOID! GET BACK HERE!"

Sonic's eyes flew open, and he immediately became aware of his arms and legs frozen in a vertical running position. He stared around, confused at why he was in a metallic blue workshop as opposed to a feild of roses without a screaming Amy, but quickly realized that he had fallen asleep, that everything had been a dream-

"Are you okay?" came Tails' voice and Sonic jumped upright, his heart still hammering in a chaotic sprint against his chest. His friend was rubbing one arm, and he realized he must have punched him accidentally.

"Yeah," he lied, and Tails' disbelieving expression was proof that he didn't believe him, either. Before he could speak, Sonic asked urgently, "Any sign of Eggman plotting something?"

"N-no." Tails said, sounding suprised at the question. He opened his mouth to speak, but Sonic turned and made to run towards the back door, though something caught his arm and held him back. He turned, and saw Tails gripping it, his expression both confused and determined.

"Sonic, what the hell just happened?" he asked, but Sonic shook his head and wrenched his arm free of Tails' grip.

"Gotta go! I'll explain later!" he shouted, sprinting across the space between him and the door and tearing out into the cool evening air.

Behind him, Tails' arm was still outstretched,his mouth slightly open. "What was that about Void?" he asked himself, shaking his head in disbelief. "Amy left yelling about the same thing!"


	3. Premonition of Disaster

Knuckles opened his eyes, awakening from his light sleep. He straightened up slightly, wondering what had woken him up. The light from the Master Emerald emanated out from behind him and illuminated the vast night time clearing with its faint green glow.

A contented smile spread across Knuckles' face; night watch was his favourite, especially because most of the thieves who set their sights upon his master's treasure attempted to steal it. It was also when he sent most people to the hospital.

_Except Rouge,_ he thought, and a twang of self disgust and went through him as he remembered the bat that had succeeded in stealing the Master Emerald a few years ago. Though he had gotten it back, it was only because she gave up on her evasion. And with that thought, Knuckles was lost in the memory of last night, at this very spot....

A soft dripping noise from behind him jarred Knuckles away from his thoughts. "Damn rain," he growled, straightening up. As he looked out upon the ruins, he noticed that the stone pillars and walls surrounding him were not yet wet. Suspicions instantly aroused, Knuckles turned slowly, and instantly froze.

Behind him sat a massive blue puddle, too thick to be just normal water, but clearly not a solid, either. His subconciousness reeled at the sight of it, screaming for him to run, recognizing it for the danger that it was, but Knuckles did not pay any attention to it; slowly, zombie-like, he walked towards the puddle, his footsteps causing the liquid to tremble slightly...

Eventually he reached it and gazed, transfixed, at the goo, trying to break through his mental block, not understanding how or why this liquid had gotten here. And then he spotted them, a pair of dark jade and blindingly white stones sitting side by side inside the puddle, stones he recognized-

"Chaos," Knuckles breathed, and his heart stopped, and then rocketed into a death sprint as he shouted the name.

"_CHAOS!"_

And at this, a figure erupted out of the puddle with an ear splitting screech, showering Knuckles in thick goo. Chaos, for indeed it was he, towered over Knuckles, a four-storey high mass of pure strength. His massive hands were clenched, and its innards bubbled and shifted disgustingly like a boiling mass of water.

Both terror and adrenaline coursed through Knuckles, and with a roar he flung himself forwards, hurtling through the monster's stomach. The thickness of the liquid killed all his speed, and soon Knuckles found himself slowing to a halt in the middle of the monster. Desperately, he punched and kicked, but his movements were slowed by the liquid pulling and yanking at his limbs.

His energy and oxygen supply seeped out of him, but Knuckles forced himself not to take a breath as he hung there, suspended like a ludicrous doll in outer space, unable to move. Knuckles tried to swim forwards, to move, but only ended up flipping upside-down. A thousand times louder than usual, Chaos' insane, screeching laughter rang mockingly through Knuckles' ears, a mocking reminder that he was trapped with no way out. Unable to even think of something insulting to shout at the monster, he was forced to endure the air-deprived screaming of his lungs, the laboured pounding of his heart, and as his eyelids began to droop, Knuckles realized he was dying. As soon as the realization struck him, he saw a dark blue light, weirdly distorted and warped by Chaos' body, but a light all the same.

_Funny, _Knuckles thought slowly._ I always thought the light was supposed to be white._

As the speeding blue light approached, Knuckles' anticipation for a blissful end grew, and he took an impatient, involuntary breath. Immediately, his lungs were on fire, his nose and throat burning at the thick liquid that was not air, and he coughed and choked, trying to expel it, but his efforts only earned him more burning liquid. Drowning in burning goo, Knuckles somehow saw the light penetrate Chaos' stomach, slowing slightly but still incredibly fast. Only when it slammed into him with the force of an elephant did Knuckles realize that the light was not, in fact, a light at all.

The force of the impact sent Knuckles hurtling backwards, flying through Chaos' immensely thick body liquid that clawed at him desperately, trying to keep him prisoner, but to no avail; Knuckles burst out into the mercifully cool night time air, easily clearing the pillars of stone that surrounded the ruin and beginning to speed towards the ground at a dangerously high pace.

And then –_BAM._ The collision with the ground was merciless, knocking the little air he had managed to recover from his lungs as he skidded across the hard grassy ground, forging a deep gorge and half buried in soil by the time he came to a resounding halt.

For a long time, Knuckles could only lie there, coughing painfully as he tried to clear his lungs of the burning liquid that was Chaos. Gasping, choking and exhausted as he was, Knuckles forced himself to breath, and very slowly, he recovered.

Knuckles forced himself upright as soon as he could manage, shaking liquid and dirt from his eyes as he gazed dizzily up towards the ruins, towards Chaos. Sure enough, the monster was still there, flinging his overlarge arms around and beating at the mysterious streak of dark blue that was darting around his massive form with impossible speed, speed that could only belong to one person-

"_SONIC!_" Knuckles roared, staggering to his feet, but he overbalanced and fell unsteadily back to the ground. Something hot and wet was obscuring his vision, but Knuckles wiped it away, his eyes fixed upon the fight going on so close to him, a fight he could no sooner aid Sonic in than he could explain what was going on.

Sonic landed hard on his feet, breathing heavily, but none the less turned to face Chaos once more. The monster let out a hair raising cackle and raised its massive hand in front of his gargoyle-like face, beckoning Sonic forwards. Sonic let out a low snarl and leaped forwards once more, a tight ball of pure energy, and he swerved around the crushing blow Chaos attempted to unleash upon him. Once more, he charged through Chaos's head, punching and kicking at his massive grey brain, but his blows were slowed by the thickness of the monster's body liquid, causing each punch, each kick, to bounce off the organ. Sopping wet, Sonic exploded out of the monster once more, his chest heaving, and as he descended towards the ground he caught sight of a blurred, glowing blue limb lashing out towards him-

He rolled to the side, but wasn't quick enough; Chaos' arm, much more solid than it looked, caught him hard in the chest and sent him sprawling through the air, landing in a crumpled heap at the edge of the ruin. Ignoring the pounding pain in his ribs, Sonic forced himself up and turned around, shouting, "Is that all ya got, ya big drip?"

But as he caught sight of the scene before him, his bravado vanished as abruptly as it had come. Chaos had extended one massive, claw-like hand towards the glowing Master Emerald, a look of savage triumph on his grotesque face. Chaos, who got stronger with each Chaos Emerald he consumed, not the Master Emerald.

So why break it?

The scene seemed to freeze before Sonic's eyes, which widened as understanding hit him like a lightning bolt. "_There's one in the Master Emerald!"_ he breathed, and time unfroze in a deafening explosion of white light as Chaos touched the Emerald's smooth surface, an act that flung Sonic backwards like a hurricane does a bird, and his arms and legs stretched to breaking point as he rocketed through the air as Knuckles had before him.

There was a loud, mechanical roar, a burst of unnatural wind and a pneumatic hiss and Sonic found himself lying confusedly upon a soft leather surface with no idea how he got there.

"Hiya, Sonic!" came a girlish squeal from beside him, and Sonic sat upright, blinking dazedly towards the source of the sound.

Amy sat beside him, her large, light green eyes over bright, but Amy all the same, and she flung her arms around him in a tight hug, crying out, "Oh, I'm just so glad you're okay!"

"A-Amy?"He said bewilderedly, trying without success to pull himself out of her embrace. "Where are we?"

"The Tornado," came Tails' voice from behind them, and Amy mercifully released him as Sonic turned in his seat to see his friend squeezing out from between their seats and the side of the plane. But Sonic wasn't looking at him; he was staring in horror at Knuckles' limp form, which was lying upon two of the dark leather seats that Tails had pushed down to form a type of makeshift bed. He was covered in what looked like blood, dirt and water, and a mass of white bandages were wrapped around his head, not quite managing to stem the flow of blood that was slowly seeping out from above his right eye. A tube was connected to his left arm, pumping a colourless liquid into it from a plastic bag attached to the wall beside him.

"That freak sure did bash him up," Amy said sorrowfully from beside him, and Sonic jumped, forgetting he was not alone, and turned around to face Amy and Tails. Amy looked to be on the verge of tears and Tails was walking towards the front of the plane, saying, "Thanks, Auto, I'll take it from here."

As Tails sat down in the pilot's seat, Sonic, still slightly overwhelmed at his abrupt and narrow escape, blurted out, "What the-how did you-?"

"Well, I was worried about you when you ran out of the workshop without telling me what was going on," Tails said, without turning around in his seat.

"So he called me and we took off in the Tornado to look for you," Amy said, nodding slowly. "And it wasn't a bad idea, either. Look what just happened!"

"Is that why you asked me if there had been any monsters on the news lately? Did you get, like, a premonition or something?"Tails asked, turning to face Sonic, whose eyes unfocused slightly as he strained to remember his dream.

It had become less clear in his mind because of the seriousness of the sudden appearance of Chaos, and all he could remember now was a high, cold laugh, that it had involved Amy, and something about 'Eggman's regards'. But he was sure that Chaos had not been involved in it.

"Well, not really,' Sonic said, shaking his head. "But there's no way that this Chaos coming back and that dream aren't connected."

"Chaos? But I thought you got rid of him!" Amy cried, looking at Sonic with a look of positive adoration on her face, and slightly indignant at the thought of Chaos having the nerve of returning after Sonic had beaten him.

Tails rolled his eyes and said, "How many other four storey monsters do we know, Amy?" At this, Amy's expression became annoyed and she tore her eyes away from Sonic to glare at Tails. "I'll bet the seven Chaos Emeralds that Eggman's behind this."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious." Amy said sarcastically, and Tails opened his mouth to retort, but Sonic, casting him a warning look, cut across him.

"Well, it's not like I'm surprised. He's been pretty quiet on the mayhem front for a couple of months now, and it was only a matter of time before he did something like this."

"But why use Chaos?"Tails muttered, more to himself than anyone else. "Eggman knows the four of us could beat him if we tried. Do you think this could have been a distraction?"

A thrill of fear coursed through Sonic; it wouldn't be unlike Eggman to do such a thing. He glanced at Amy, whose eyes were unfocused, evidently lost in thought...

He wasn't sure how he got there, but suddenly Sonic found himself sprawled upon a cold stone floor, a low, mechanical humming sounding from all around him. With a groan he forced himself upright, disoriented, but as he caught sight of his surroundings he jerked into awareness. Somehow, he had landed himself in a cold, iron gray cell with thick metal bars as thick as his waist trapping him inside it. Across from him, he saw Amy, splayed across the floor, unconscious or worse. As he leapt to his feet, he saw Eggman's insignia painted in bright yellow on the wall above his captured friend (a crude, smiling picture of the doctor's sinister face) and knew that somehow, impossibly, Eggman had somehow captured them.

_But how? _Sonic thought wildly. _We were just in the Tornado! And where are Tails and Knuckles?_

_No time to think about that now,_ said his iron core._ Right now, you need to concentrate on you and Amy getting out of here alive._ So with a little nod to himself, Sonic seized two of the bars imprisoning him and hissed, "Amy! _Amy!_ Wake up!"

Amy gave a sharp jolt and sat bolt upright, her bright green eyes huge with wild fear. Her expression changed from bewilderment to amazement, and she staggered to her feet, saying, "Where are we?"

Sonic shrugged. "Prison, I guess. Just great, huh?" But, to his astoundment, a slow smile spread across Amy's face, and she exclaimed, "Boy oh boy, stuck in jail with you! This is heaven!"

Sonic let out a fake cough, tapping the bars that separated them. Amy's eyes narrowed, but then she pulled out her Piko Piko hammer, crying, "Don't you worry, Sonic! I'll spring us!"

Sonic wondered absently what foolish guard had allowed Amy to keep her weapon of choice, but shrugged, glad that they had. He watched in mild amazement as his friend reduced the bars of her cell to a mangled, metallic mess, and then she ran forwards, her large eyes dancing, and, with a twirl of her hammer, she said, "Get to the back of the cell, Sonic!"

Wordlessly, he obeyed, eager to get as far away from Amy and her hammer swinging fury as possible. In less time than she had her own, Amy created a reasonably sized gap in his cell bars. Sonic grinned and leapt out of his prison, giving Amy a hasty, one armed hug, but then he grabbed her hand and ran down the depressing grey prison hall, towards a blank stone wall. For a moment, he stood there, considering what may or may not be waiting for them on the other side of it, but then Amy stepped around him and, drawing her hammer, cried, "It's gonna take more than that to-"

But she cut herself off with a gasp, for someone had just melted through the wall as easily as if it were air, someone with a face of palest grey and huge sapphire-amethyst eyes, coupled with a curtain of shocking emerald hair and clothed in strange, billowing sapphire robes.

"Void," Sonic hissed, seizing Amy and swinging her around so that he was standing in a tense half crouch in front of her.

Void, for indeed it was he, smiled chillingly, an act which caused Sonic's blood to turn to ice, effectively rooting him to the spot. Behind him, Amy was trembling so violently that there may have been an earthquake going on.

Void let out a harsh, bone rattling laugh, and then, in a tone like a teacher disciplining a child, chided, "Now, now, I can't have you two escaping on us. What would Robotnik say if he knew I had let you get away under my watch?"

Sonic knew what was about to happen a second before it did, and so he whirled around, caught Amy up in his arms and shouted, "RUN!"

But then there was a burst of frightening laughter, followed almost instantaneously by what felt like a beam of molten lava colliding with the middle of his back. The pain was so ferocious that Sonic could feel himself spiralling into suffocating blackness before he had even begun to fall forwards. From what felt like an incredibly long way away, he heard Amy scream, "Sonic, no!" and then he knew no more.

With a startled intake of breath, Sonic sat bolt upright, his chest heaving as he gulped down air, staring wildly around, bewildered at his abrupt change in surroundings.

He was lying safely on an uncomfortably warm bed, and impatiently shoved what felt like twenty blankets off of himself. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness of this new room, Sonic realized he was in Tails' bedroom, for every inch of wall was covered in blueprints and diagrams of inventions. The ceiling, however, was orangey-yellow, and the room smelt faintly of sawdust. He was momentarily surprised to find Amy curled into a tight ball in the room's only armchair, swathed in a thin blanket. Her body rose and fell evenly, showing that she was asleep. Sonic stared at her for a moment, then padded across the room and lifted her easily out of the chair, depositing her carefully upon the bed. Then he turned and walked out into the hallway, wandering towards the kitchen.

Tails was waiting for him, a plate of omelettes sitting on the table before him. "Morning," he said brightly. "Or should I say, night."

The smell of food wafted temptingly towards him, and Sonic's stomach gave an audible grumble. Tails laughed and waved a hand towards the plate of food, and he half-ran towards the chair opposite Tails, pulling a plate towards him and slapping an omelette down upon it. He wolfed it down in an impressive twenty seconds, wincing as the hot food burnt his tongue. Tails watched him for a moment, then began delicately stabbing his own omelette.

Pulling a second omelette upon his plate, Sonic, in between bites, was trying to catch up. "So, we made it back. How come you didn't wake me up? You coulda slept in your own bed."

Tails took his time chewing his food, then swallowed, and said, "Well, Amy wouldn't let you sleep anywhere else," he looked down, tossed another piece of omelette into his mouth, then shrugged. "You know how she gets."

Sonic looked down at his half- eaten omelette unseeingly, his mind on his dream...

It was the second significant one he had had in less than a day, and even though he could barely remember the first one, he somehow knew that these dreams and what had happened on Angel Island were connected. And then, as if somehow had pushed a fast forward button, the events of the battle caught up with him; Chaos had somehow returned, and not only shattered the Master Emerald, but gotten his overlarge hands on a Chaos Emerald, too. And then there was-

"Knuckles!" Sonic exclaimed, and then choked on his mouthful of omelette; wide-eyed, Tails dashed around the table and pounded him on the back, while Sonic coughed violently. Quickly, however, he spat out the bit of food.

"Thanks," he gasped, picking up his plate and scraping the half-chewed piece of food into Tails' garbage can.

"No problem," Tails said, walking back around the table and reseating himself in his chair. He waited for Sonic to sit back down before continuing in his summary of the nights' events.

"You and Amy have been sleeping for two days-" Sonic raised his eyebrows in surprise at this but did not interrupt. "And Knuckles isn't that bad off, considering he fell off Angel Island. He was good as new, anyway, when he woke up. He was went berserk when I wouldn't let him go back to check on the Master Emerald," at this, Tails' mouth curved into a half smile, but he continued in an even voice. "And I had to sedate him. I don't think he'll be very happy when he wakes up, though."

Sonic grinned, anticipating Knuckles' mood when he came to, but before Tails could say anything else Amy walked into the room, yawning hugely. "Hey Tails. Hiya Sonic." She plopped herself onto the seat next to the latter, smiling adoringly, and then pulled an omelette towards her. Tails sniggered an Sonic rolled his eyes at him, but then Amy dropped her fork with a clatter onto her shockingly clean plate and turned to face Sonic.

"So," she said, batting her eyelashes. "Since we've been sleeping for so long..."

But Sonic did not hear the rest of Amy's sentence. A voice, high and cold but with a distinctly child-like quality about it, had just whispered, _I'm coming for you._ Rigid and unmoving, Sonic only emerged from his statuesque state when he became aware that Amy was shaking his shoulder.

"Did you hear me, Sonic? I asked you if you wanted to go get a pizza or something." She was saying impatiently.

Sonic looked down at her with wide eyes, his heart pounding in his chest. It had been Void who had spoken to him, he was certain of that. And from what his bizarre dreams had been telling him, it was himself and Amy who he was after. Which meant that the two of them had to get out of there, no matter how much it wounded his pride. So with a mere second's delay, he looked down at Amy and said, in what he hoped sounded like a slightly reluctant voice, "Well, I guess so..."

Amy's eyes widened in incredulous delight. "Really?" she squealed, and at Sonic's hesitant nod, she sang, "Yay! I'll be right back!"

As she dashed from the room, Sonic, out of the corner of his eye, saw that Tails was looking at him quizzically. "Why the yes?" the fox asked suspiciously, and Sonic briefly debated how to answer the question. The truth sounded hard to believe, even inside his own head, and Tails, who needed cold, hard facts before committing to something, would likely wave deem his fears unnecessary. _Oh yeah, Tails, I just heard a voice and I think it might be Void's even though he's supposed to be in Maginaryworld and I think he might be after me and Amy so I think it'd be safer for all of us if we led Void away from here._

If his suspicions that Void was after them turned out to be true, (and assuming he and Amy escaped Void's clutches) then he would tell Tails all about his bizarre dreams, no matter how insane they sounded. So, taking a deep breath, Sonic said, "Well, it'd probably be good for us to get outside, you know, since we've been crashing here all day..."

It was a lame excuse, even to him, and Sonic winced as Tails observed sarcastically, "You do know it's like, ten o'clock at night right now, right?"

Sonic was spared the humiliation of lying again for, thankfully, Amy chose to bounce back into the kitchen.

"Yeah," Sonic seized the opportunity to leave gratefully, and Amy flounced out the front door, evidently overjoyed. Sonic cast an apologetic look back at Tails, though he may have looked simply amused, because Tails looked more suspicious than ever as he watched the two of them walk out into the dark, rolling green hills outside his workshop.

Sonic knew, with a slightly sinking heart, that it would be hard to live this down; to Tails, it would look like he had finally relented in his endless refusal to go out on a date with Amy. But he knew that he would have to swallow his pride and hitch a smile on his face for the next couple of hours, more for Amy's sake than for his.

Their freedom depended on it.


	4. The Deception

Amy gazed up into the heavens, her eyes reflecting the stars like glassy orbs as her heart seemed to swell to twice its normal size. _Finally!_ She thought happily. _He finally said yes!_

She looked back at Sonic, who she was surprised to see looked slightly nervous. But when he saw her looking at him, he smiled shiftily and said, "So....where do you think we should go?"

"I don't know," Amy said, blushing slightly and causing Sonic to smirk. "Anywhere that has pizza, I guess."

Feeling like they had gotten off to a relatively good start, she turned and started off in the direction of the city. Sonic, however, caught her arm and spun her around to face him, demanding, "Where are you going?"

"Uh..."but Amy did not get any farther than that, for with a small shake of his head, Sonic had swung her up into his arms and took off like a bullet towards the eastern sky and, she realized, Emerald Coast.

She was at a loss for words; the speed they were flying at should have been terrifying, and yet she felt only exhilaration as the wind whipped her hair around her face, turning the air in her lungs cold. The clouds seemed to be racing backwards as they sped over hills that were reduced to a dark green blur, and Amy was sure she should have been jostled violently at this chaotic pace, but she was as still in Sonic's arms as she had been lying on Tails' bed. He looked down at her and gave her the type of exhilarated smile he always wore when running, and suddenly, impossibly, they sped up, and Amy tore her eyes away from Sonic's to stare about in amazement. The world had been reduced to a dark blur, the sky and land indistinguishable from each other, and instinctively, she grasped Sonic's arm harder, not wanting to think about what would happen in the unlikely event of a crash.

But her fear was unnecessary; Sonic hurtled to a fluent stop and set a disoriented Amy on her feet, looking pleased with himself. She gazed around in confusion, and saw with a jolt they had arrived at Emerald Coast in what was possibly record time. The moon had risen to its highest point, leeching the bright sand of its colour, bleaching it white. The water was perfectly calm, a wavy mirror of the velvety black sky above it. The beach was littered with couples like themselves, but most were locked together in tight embraces, oblivious to their arrival. With a sinking heart, Amy realized that it would be nothing short of miraculous if Sonic allowed her to do something like that with him. _Then again,_ she thought._ He said 'yes' to this date..._Her stomach turned a cartwheel at the prospect.

"I'll be right back," Sonic told her, he darted away from her, weaving silently throughout the no longer clueless couples, most of whom had untangled themselves in order to either gaze in incredulity at Sonic or-in most of the girls' case- jealously at Amy. A thrill of smugness went through Amy as she gazed back at a particularly annoyed-looking female hedgehog. _Sonic could have had any of the girls here in a second, _she thought._ But he chose_ me!

Growing slightly self conscious at all the staring, Amy shifted her gaze to Sonic, who was standing at a pizza shack, talking with a lavender coloured rabbit. The rabbit was chatting animatedly back to him, flipping her long hair and batting her eyelashes. Amy bit back a growl, and her fists clenched as jealousy flared inside her. But the flame was quickly smouldered as Sonic shook his head meticulously and turned and pointed at her. At this, the rabbit froze, then abruptly dropped her flirtatious manner and turned her back on Sonic with a distinct stiffness in her back.

As if sensing her gaze upon him, Sonic turned and winked at Amy over his shoulder, causing her to giggle quietly. The serving rabbit turned and handed him a box of pizza and Sonic passed a five dollar coin over to her before turning on sharply and dashing back over to her. Amy distinctly saw the rabbit cover her face in her hands and retreat into the kitchen.

"Here." Sonic passed her the box of pizza and sat down upon the sandy ground, leaning back on his hands and looking perfectly at ease. Amy sank to her knees beside him and set the box down. Her stomach growled, unsatisfied with her one omelette and without further ado she and Sonic began to demolish the pizza, though quite fashionably so. They did not speak, each lost in their own thoughts; in Amy's case, she was still radiating joy at having successfully asked Sonic out, and her mind was unable to shift from the thought.

Only when the last piece had been eaten did she look up from the ground. She was momentarily surprised to see that most of the other couples were packing up; in the case of the pizza shack, the lights were off and a shutter had been pulled over the counter. She turned and looked out over the ocean, which was still perfectly calm, as smooth as the sky above it.

"Man, it sure is nice here," Sonic sighed in contentment from behind her.

"Yeah," Amy agreed, rather pathetically, gazing unseeingly at the moon, for she had finally stopped obsessing over her luck, thinking of the strange dream she had had while she had been at Tails' house that afternoon. She could barely remember it now, for she had locked it away in the bowels of her mind, and the drama with Chaos had not helped. She could only remember that it had terrified her more completely than a nightmare had ever done before, that it had involved Sonic, and that Eggman had something to do with it.

But there was no point in dwelling on something that may have very well only been a disturbing dream when she had finally achieved her heart's desire. Amy shook her head to banish the reminiscence and turned to face Sonic, and her breath caught in her throat as she saw that his face was inches from her own, his eyes reflecting her own stunned profile. Her heart hammered against her ribs, and her breathing spiked up; could it be that he wasn't as opposed to her as he let on? Was it only the fact that Tails and Knuckles were usually around them that he had never said 'yes' to something like this before?

She leaned in slightly, and he mirrored her; if Sonic did not want to do this, all he had to do was pull away-

A chorus of ear splitting, horrific screams ripped into existence behind them, followed by a bright, violently purple light. Amy's scream was lost as the others easily drowned hers out, and her dream burst through the door she had slammed closed upon it, flooding her mind with memories. The ghost from their past couldn't be here now, could he?"

"Get down!" Sonic shouted, and without waiting for her to do so, he flung himself on top of her, pressing her against the sand.

The screams and light cut off abruptly, leaving an oppressive silence in its wake; Amy's heart was drumming a tattoo against her ribs, her ears straining to hear the blood chilling laugh of the monster she knew to be floating before them, to hear the sound of his approach-

And abruptly, overwhelming hopelessness flooded through Amy, so powerful that tears welled up in her eyes._ What's the point?_ She asked herself, and her strength, her desire to live, seeped out of her. _Void's going to capture us anyways; maybe it'll be easier if we don't give him a hard time..._

With that she made to stand up, but Sonic's arms formed an iron cage around her and he hissed, "_NO!"_

Amy collapsed back onto the sand, her tears silently wetting the soft surface beneath her. She had effectively blown any cover they may have had; Void was going to have a positively easy time taking Sonic away from her, just as he had in her nightmare-

It was as if an explosion of hope had taken place in her chest; strength surged through her limbs, banishing her quaking terror, and Amy brushed the tears from her eyes, determination coursing through her._ If he wants to get at Sonic, he's going to have to get through me first!_

But before she could force herself upright, the horrible chorus of terrified screams and violently bright purple light ripped itself back into existence, though this time, no thrill of fear went through her; Amy broke through Sonic's slackened grip and leaped to her feet, just in time to see a the hem of a swirling sapphire robe disappear into a massive, swirling portal that had appeared above the now-violent black ocean. The moment Void disappeared, the portal closed, the screaming stopped, and all became silent. It was as if the monster had never been there, that there had never been any interruption in her date with Sonic...

Amy whirled around, only to see that Sonic was bending over something about twenty feet away. Wordlessly, she sprinted through the sand, tripping slightly in her haste to reach her friend's side. When she finally hurtled to a stop beside him, a cry of horror was wrenched from her lips. A tiny, dark green Chao was collapsed upon the ground in front of Sonic, not conscious and certainly not breathing. Amy sank to the ground in front of her, her shoulders heaving with silent sobs as she scooped the limp form up into her arms.

"W-why would Void d-do this?"She stammered, pressing her ear to the Chao's tiny chest. A gasp of relief escaped her lips as she heard its heartbeat, incredibly faint but there nonetheless. Gently, she lowered it back to the ground, hastily brushing tears from her eyes as she turned to face Sonic.

"I'm s-sorry," she murmured, smiling shakily. "It's j-just...I had a...a nightmare that something like this was h-happening..."

But she trailed off as an odd expression rolled across Sonic's face, a combination of horror and amazement. "You too?" he whispered, his dark green eyes probing hers, rendering Amy incapable of anything but nodding.

"Except it didn't come true," she told him when Sonic released her with a blink. "In m-my nightmare, he took you with him when h-he left..."

"That's what happened in mine," Sonic muttered, shaking his head slightly. "Except in mine, he took you. But what I want to know," he said, suddenly agitated. "Is why he left so quickly. If he was after one of us, how come he retreated?"

Both of them lapsed into a tense silence, groping about for a possible explanation for Void's abrupt departure. Amy's gaze slid across the beach, her heart jumping into her throat painfully as she realized that all of the couples who had still been around when Void appeared had fainted, just like the Chao. And then, as abruptly as if a bolt of lightning had struck her, the answer flashed across Amy's mind. "Oh no," she whispered in horror, her eyes locking onto Sonic's, whose widened in comprehension and he joined her in moaning, "_Tails!"_

So quickly Amy wasn't sure how it had happened, Amy found herself in Sonic's arms once more, and they were sprinting across the beach faster than sound could catch them. This time, she was jostled slightly as he raced back towards Tail's workshop, and there was no room for exhilaration in Amy's mind; she was terrified at Sonic's impossible speed, and even more so at the prospect of Void capturing Tails and Knuckles. Sonic raced the moon and clouds across the sky, tearing through a gap in the mountains and then over the rolling green hills that led up to Tails' mountainside workshop. She was sure that he couldn't have been running for more than five minutes when he hurtled to a fluid stop at their friends' front door. Sonic swung her out of his arms and placed her on her feet behind him, while he slid into a half crouch. The lights in the front room were off, and Amy knew not whether Tails had gone to sleep and left them off, or if there was no one home to turn them on.

Sonic reached slowly for the door knob and turned it experimentally. It swung open silently, unlocked, which was an ominous sign to Amy. Then again, it was always unlocked. Sonic half turned and nodded at her, and Amy gulped then returned the gesture. He took a cautious step across the threshold, and at the same time Amy reached for her hammer.

Eggman smiled broadly. Chaos had just dropped in. Or was starting to, anyway. As the monster began to seep down from the ceiling, the doctor couldn't help but feel slightly sorry for him; all too soon, Chaos would be re-imprisoned inside the four Crystals of Chaos, with only a next to nothing chance of ever wrecking havoc on Mobius ever again.

After several long minutes, Chaos lay in a massive puddle upon the metallic silver flooring, and slowly, disgustingly, his massive head rose out of the thick goo; it was incredibly grotesque, a hundred times more so than even the most brutal-faced monster Eggman could imagine. One eye was now bright cyan, the other a brilliant white.

As he took in Eggman's revolted expression, Chaos let out a cold, rough laugh and rasped, "Hello, doctor. I'd show you my new look but your... lair...isn't large enough."

Eggman shuddered delicately, but otherwise ignored Chaos' remark. "Chaos," he addressed the monster's head in a business-like tone. "There's been a change in plans."

Chaos' unmatching eyes narrowed, but he did not speak, so Eggman continued in what he hoped sounding like a commanding tone. "I've been monitoring the four meddlesome animals and have decided to change our schedule. You are to capture Tails, Amy and Knuckles; place the fox on the farthest mountain from the workshop you will find him in, and the girl in the valley farthest from that mountain. Bring the red fool to me."

"And what of Void?" Chaos rasped suspiciously.

Eggman managed to make his face fall, and said in a passably disappointed voice, "I'm not sure; he hasn't made contact with me yet."

Chaos' horrible smile widened at this, and he bowed his head as he started to melt through the floor. "It will be done, doctor." He assured him, before his head disappeared completely.

Eggman forced himself to be patient, his beady black eyes fixed upon Chaos' rapidly shrinking form, making certain that the monster had entirely disappeared before calling Void; it would not do for him to hear what he was about to instruct Void to do. When the last of the glowing blue liquid had been gone for two minutes, Eggman cleared his throat and, feeling extremely idiotic, said, "Er...Void? Could I see you for a moment?"

There was a brief spell of silence and then-

A chorus of screams erupted from in front of him, accompanied by a violently purple portal of swirling light, the screaming so high-pitched and terrible that Eggman felt himself sway on the spot. Ignoring the chaos that was wrecking havoc with his laboratory, he clamped his hands over his ears and shut his eyes tightly, his teeth grinding together as the screaming intensified in volume, willing it to end, for silence-

As abruptly as it had come, the portal closed, the screaming cut off, and Eggman felt it safe to remove his hands from his face. Shakily, he lowered his hands, and sure enough, Void was hovering several feet away from him, a faint air of smugness radiating out from him, and Eggman did not have to look far for the reason. With Void, at least, there was no change in his appearance, for he was just as terrifying as ever with his pale grey skin, curtain of bright emerald hair and frightening sapphire-amethyst eyes.

Eggman cleared his throat and forced himself to look into Void's eyes as he addressed the monster. "Ah...quite a prompt appearance! I hope I wasn't interrupting anything?" he said courteously, not quite managing to keep the tremor from his voice.

Void raised his thin, slanting eyebrows. "Oh no," he replied, flashing a white-toothed smile. "Those crocodiles were finished anyway." Eggman shuddered delicately at his words and the monster's smile widened, but before the doctor could speak, Void opened his mouth once more and said in a slow, satisfied voice, "You were right, doctor; those Sonic and Amy were strong."

"B-but," Eggman spluttered, his eyes widening at Void's words. "You d-didn't...they n-not-?"

"No," Void answered calmly, those his frightening eyes flashed as though he wished he were giving Eggman a different answer. "Not at all; but it doesn't hurt to learn their fears, does it?" he let out a harsh note of laughter that caused Eggman to cringe sharply.

"Yes, well, that being said, there's been a change in plans," Eggman informed Void, assuming an authorative tone in an effort to remind Void who was the master of this grand scheme. At his words, Void's slanting eyes narrowed, but he did not speak, so Eggman continued, his voice growing stronger with each word.

"Chaos' services are no longer required to complete our mission. I have decided that it would be in our best interests to take him out of the picture as soon as possible."

To his intense surprise, Void's nostrils flared and his eyes took on a flame like quality; twin halos of fire appeared around his hands that were curled into fists, and he let out a low, inhumane snarl before hissing, "And what then, mortal? Will you then eliminate me, like you intend to do to the useless puddle?"

Void's voice was so snakelike that Eggman retreated several steps from the enraged Maginaire, twirling his moustache nervously. "N-no!" he squealed in protest, his voice weak with fear. "N-nothing like that! I wouldn't d-dream of it!" When Void's expression became slightly less fierce, but he did not extinguish the flames cackling around his hands, Eggman gulped and continued in a quavering voice.

"I've sent Chaos to capture three of the four annoyances I so desperately need out of the way. After that, he is to return here. I need you to ambush him upon his return; steal the Chaos Emeralds he managed to collect by whatever means you can, and when you are done, I will throw these-" he tapped a button on his wafer thin keyboard and four holographic crystalline blue diamonds appeared in the space between him and Void, rotating slowly. "-at him. These are the Four Crystals of Chaos, and they will seal him effectively away. After that, deposit them in the farthest regions of space you can travel to, and that will be the end of our friend Chaos!"

Void remained perfectly still for a split second, and then he relaxed out of his tense half crouch, the flames around his hands vanishing as he clapped them together in apparent delight. "Well, this is wonderful!" Void exclaimed, his slanting eyes bright with excitement. "I finally get the chance to eliminate the disgusting blob!"

Eggman chuckled reluctantly, glad that he had decided to break up the alliance between Chaos and Void before things got ugly, possibly at a crucial point in his plan. But then, inspiration struck him like a bolt of lightning, so sudden, so perfect that he could not keep an evil grin from spreading across his face.

"Tell me Void," he said slowly, his black eyes flashing from behind his tinted sunglasses. "How good are you with magic?"

Void's mouth curled into a twisted half smile. "The best in the universe."

Eggman twirled his moustache absently as he surveyed the monster before him. "And with hypnosis?"

Void's eyes flashed menacingly as he caught Eggman's drift.

"As good as you want me to be."

Sonic walked hesitantly across Tails' living room, his ears straining for the sounds of approaching footsteps, of quiet breathing. His eyes shifted restlessly along the walls, sliding over the blank television screen, over the furniture, probing the shadows. Not at all at ease, he reached a hand back towards Amy, who took it at once.

They padded silently into the kitchen, which was also deceptively dark. The dishes were still on the table, in almost exactly the same place they had been when they had left. Very Tails-y behaviour. Unless, of course, there was no one home to clean them up.

They had almost reached the hallway when the lights flicked on behind them. Amy let out a scream of fear, wrenching her hand out of Sonic's grip. The latter whirled around, blinking impatiently at the sudden change of light. He saw Amy with her hands clamped over her mouth, her bright eyes huge as she looked towards a dark shape Sonic could not properly make out.

"Oh my gosh, I'm _so sorry, _Tails!" Amy cried, her eyes watering as she lowered her hands slightly. "You shouldn't have snuck up on us, though!"

Sonic's eyes finally adjusted and he saw, to his relief, Tails standing before them, not the monster he had envisioned, though he had an already large bump on the top of his head, which he was rubbing gingerly. Sonic ran to the refrigerator and pulled out an ice pack, tossing it casually to Tails. The fox caught it and pressed it to the wound, wincing slightly.

"Amy, I'm fine," he assured her, though there was a note of irritability in his voice. "What happened?"

"Well, we're fine, but we nearly got attacked by Void." Sonic said, in a would-be casual voice. As he predicted, Tails' eyes widened to the size of saucers and he yelled, "_WHAT?"_

"It was more like stalked," Amy sniffled, brushing tears from her eyes as she walked around the table and seated herself in front of Tails, who had slammed himself into a chair, looking stunned.

"_Why _did you guys go out that late?" Tails demanded, looking furiously at Sonic, who glanced between them before walking over to sit beside Amy. "I knew something like this was going to happen.

Sonic wasted no time in filling Tails in on all that had happened, and both he and Amy told him that they had both experienced strange, premonition-like dreams about Void before this, wordlessly agreeing to leave out the part of Void capturing the other.

"It's obvious that Eggman's behind this, he wouldn't have just used Chaos to try to take over Mobius," Sonic concluded, and Tails nodded slowly, all trace of anger gone, replaced by anxiety.

"Yeah, that's true...Come to think of it, we never actually had to go up against Void before." Tails did not look happy about the prospect, and nor did Amy. Sonic himself was not overjoyed with the possibility, as the memory of the fear Void had induced in him, even in the dream, was enough to make him shudder.

"So what's the plan?"

The sudden sounding gruff voice from behind them caused all three of them to jump out of their chairs and whirl around, and Amy actually withdrew her hammer before realizing who it was.

"_Knuckles!" _she cried, replacing her hammer in its hidden carrier as she goggled the echidna.

For someone who had been mauled by a monster less than 48 hours ago, Knuckles looked exceptionally well; he was leaning casually against the refrigerator, arms folded across his chest and only just failing to conceal a long line of stitches on his right arm. One eye had a faint purple shadow beneath it and there was a shallow cut on his cheek but that was all.

"Knuckles!" Tails said, sounding both nervous and exasperated. "You shouldn't have gotten up! I told you, that tube in your arm needed to stay in until I came back to check on you!"

Knuckles flushed angrily and opened his mouth to retort, but Sonic cut across him, a smile spreading across his face. "Ready to take on the big drip a second time, Knucky?" he asked, his eyes glinting mockingly. "Are you sure you can manage him?"

"Of course I can," Knuckles growled, his hands clenching into fists, and Tails stiffened slightly, though Sonic remained at ease. "And after that, I'll probably be forced to come along with you guys and help you save Amy while trying to stop Eggman from destroying Mobius."

Sonic stiffened, his smile sliding off his face, while Amy produced her hammer from nowhere and said furiously, "Don't talk about me like I'm not here!"

Knuckles slid into a half crouch, flexing his arms in warning, but then, suddenly, inexplicably, a look of horror spread across his face. Out of the corner of his eye, Sonic saw a flash of silver, and then Tails was advancing upon Knuckles, a stainless silver syringe in hand.

"You need to calm down." Tails said firmly, while Knuckles spun around and tore down the hallway, shouting, "This is Chaos! I mean madness!"

Sonic and Amy exchanged looks of incredulity, and then burst into laughter, Amy falling out of her chair in loud giggles and Sonic's lungs searing from lack of air. They managed to master themselves before Tails returned, looking harassed, but at Sonic's questioning look he only replied, "Apparently, he had a phobia of needles."

"Excuse me," Amy said in a strained voice, leaping out of her chair. "I need to take a shower." She ran from the hallway, quivering slightly, and the loud guffaws that echoed after her explained why.

After they subsided, Tails struck up the topic of their encounter with Void.

"So...you only went out with Amy to try to lure Void as far away from here as possible?' the fox sounded both grateful and, far less discernibly, suspicious. Sonic nodded, while his mind travelled back to the few ours he had spent alone with Amy. There had been no close calls, though there was one thing that still struck him as odd, something that had been forced from his mind as Void revealed himself.

Just before the monster's appearance, he had spotted a massive airship in the distance, leeched colourless by the night, but an airship all the same, and he had leaned forwards to try to see whether or not it had been the Egg-Carrier, Eggman's massive flying lair that had been the sight of more than one of their face offs. But at the same time, Amy had been leaning towards him. Obscuring his view, his eyes fixed on something just past him-

But then Sonic froze, his mind grinding to a stop, eyes wide with horror. What if Amy hadn't seen something behind him? What if she had seen him, and only him?_ Did she really....did she _honestly think _that I was planning to...to...kiss her?_

As he gazed unseeingly into space, shame rose up from his stomach. Now that he thought about it, Amy would have been perfectly sane to deduce such a thing from his actions. The 'yes' to what she thought was a date, for instance, and the leaning in, the intense focus upon his face had obviously been perceived as-

A loud, shrill beeping sounded from the living room, tearing Sonic away from his thoughts. To his surprise, the kitchen was dark, and Tails had vanished from in front of him, as had the plates on the table. Confused, but not all together worried, Sonic stood up, his chair grinding noisily across the floor, and he ran into the living room, slightly annoyed at the shrill interruption.

The source of the shrill beep was coming from the television, its screen snowy white with some sort of technological interference, and as he reached forwards to turn it off, the screen cleared, and a face appeared there. Freezing Sonic's hand more effectively than if someone had seized it.

The man on the screen was bald, though he had a massive brown moustache whose bushiness nearly obscured the wide, caffeine stained teeth that were bared in a triumphant smile. He wore goggles on top of his head and his beady black eyes were hidden, as was his custom, behind tinted, navy blue sunglasses.

Eggman.

"What do you want?" Sonic hissed so venomously that he was surprised Eggman didn't recoil, his harshness covering up the dawning sense of horror that was stirring up inside him.

"Oh, that should be fairly obvious, even to someone as slow as you, Sonic!" Eggman cackled, his taunting smile widening. "I'm surprised you're still at friend's sad little house. Aren't you going to try to rescue them?"

Sonic's face went blank with shock, while his heart threatened to jump out of his chest. _Rescue them?_

"What the hell are you talking about, Eggman?" he demanded, shaking from rage and- he hated to admit it- fear.

Eggman's smile faltered and he could see his eyes widening incredulously. "_What?"_ he gasped dramatically, while his malicious smile returned. "Could it possibly be that you had no idea your friends had been kidnapped?"

With a wordless roar of denial, Sonic sped from the room, a ball of pure speed, and he only unfurled himself when he had hurtled to a stop in Tails' laboratory, which was completely deserted, albeit for the incredible amount of various gadgets, bits of metal and a broken glass beaker, from which something that looked horribly like blood was seeping.

But Sonic had gone the moment he saw that the table Knuckles had been strapped to was empty, the metal clasps undone. He flashed into the garage, which looked exactly as it had the afternoon he had come to see Tails as a distraction from his thoughts, except his best friend was missing from the scene. His heart flying into his throat, Sonic sprinted into the bathroom, where the shower curtain was slashed, and a torn bit of red fabric hung like a noose upon the running showerhead.

"_NO!"_ Sonic roared, tearing back into the living room, where Eggman was laughing maniacally upon the television screen. "WHERE ARE THEY, EGGMAN? WHAT DID YOU DO WITH THEM?"

The doctor continued to laugh, his egg-like head thrown back with glee, and Sonic, spitting and snarling with rage, was reduced to seizing the sides of the flat screen, shaking it violently so that it threatened to come away from the wall.

"Well," Eggman said, wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "I really don't think you deserve to know that, Sonic. After all, when have you ever played fair with me?"

Enraged, Sonic pounded his fists upon the screen, unable to put his anger into words, and Eggman, for reasons best known to himself, relented.

"Alright," he said, raising his gloved palms into the air beside his bald head. "I'll give you some help, which is more than you ever gave me; half of your friends are trapped on the mountains nearest you. But your little girly's going to have herself a predicament far away from there. Tootle-loo!"

And with an imasculine little wave, Eggman made the screen go black. Sonic continued to stand there, his hands still clenched upon the sides of the television, glaring at the place the doctor's face had vanished. _How didn't I hear them get taken? _He demanded of himself, while his sense of fear increased by tenfold. Then,Why_ the hell is he giving me help? Is it a trap?_

Grinding his teeth in frustration, Sonic forced his eyes shut, searching himself for the answer to his dilemma. He could try the places Eggman had told him and risk getting captured himself, or he could run around Mobius all night and search the entire planet for them.

Slowly, a familiar sense of cocky confidence coursed through him, and determination pushed all his uncertainty away. He was the fastest being in the entire world, and he was sure that he could outstrip any horror that Eggman had planned for him, Maginaire or not. Then, there was the matter of choosing who to rescue first; according to Eggman, Tails and Knuckles were in the same place, though he didn't know why he would arrange it like that. But Amy was 'going to have herself a predicament far away from there'. She sounded like she was in more danger, but-

"Six fists are better than two," Sonic muttered to himself, and he curled himself into a ball and shot right through Tail's front door, racing the moon towards the mountains.


	5. Betrayal

The cool night air whipped harshly at Sonic's face, pulling unsuccessfully at his quills and roaring in his ears as he tore across the dark green hills of Emerald Valley. His mind was movie from thought to thought as fast as his feet travelled over the ground, presenting him with thoughts and images, some bidden, most not.

Tails, looking incredulous as he learned of Void's involvement in Eggman's latest, unknown scheme, unable understand as to why all these things were happening so quickly.

_What does Eggman want with him?_

Knuckles, lying broken in the back of the Tornado after his encounter with Chaos, blood leaking out of his heavily bandaged head.

_What will he say when he finds out the Master Emerald's been shattered?_

Eggman's gloating face glaring triumphantly at him from the television screen, his taunting voice still ringing through his mind as he declared that he had capture Tails and Knuckles and Amy.

_You won't get away with this, Eggy. I've beaten you before, I'll do it again, and you can't expect to win just because you've got a puddle of water and some creepy alien on your side._

Amy's face, streaked with tears as she stared in mute horror at the crumpled green Chao in the sand at Emerald Coast.

_Was I right to play with her feelings, to build up her hopes and not tell her the true reason for going out with her?_

_Of course I was, _Sonic argued with himself. _Would I have rather put Tails in Knuckles in danger, just to conserve my pride? It doesn't matter anyway, Eggman managed to capture them all even after my precautions..._

What bothered him most, however, was the fact that Eggman had kidnapped Tails, Amy and Knuckles and left him alone. _Why? _Was it just some complicated way to capture all four of them, by using the others as bait to get him to walk into a trap? Or was it a decoy, to keep Sonic occupied while he launched an attack on Mobius City? At this, Sonic nearly stopped dead, for the possibility was frighteningly realistic and would yield devastating results.

_No, _he told himself, and he doubled his pace in attempt to show his doubt just how determined he was to follow through with his decision. _I made my choice when I chose to search for Tails and Knuckles. There's not even any proof that Eggman's launching an attack on the city!_

Before his doubt could compose a counter argument, he heard, from thousands of feet away, a pounding, elevated heartbeat, coming from what sounded like the third mountain on his left. Knowing that he had reached his destination, Sonic shot forwards, curled into a tight ball of pure speed that easily outstripped the speed of sound, barely touching the ground as he tore across the grass beneath him, speeding towards the rocky mountain base-

When he was mere feet from it, Sonic unfurled himself and launched himself skyward, his arms pressed to his side, revelling in the roaring winds induced with speed that sounded in his ears, loving the feeling of the air racing past him. As he started to slow down, Sonic reached his hands up and grabbed a hold of an outstanding rock, using it to pull himself upwards. He bounded vertically up the mountainside like this, pulling himself up with the help of the jagged rock face, his feet travelling effortlessly across the uneven surface as easily as if it were flat grass.

Sonic could not help but feel exhilarated; this was what he lived for, impossible speed, the thrill of adrenaline and adventure, overcoming the odds that were always stacked against him. Eggman could always be counted on to provide him with some form of those things, no matter how dire the situation.

At last he reached the top of the mountain, and he flung himself towards the moon as he grabbed a hold of the edge, flying unsupported through the air, the moonlight hitting his face like a silver spotlight. Sonic turned a somersault and landed easily on his feet, staring around for Tails and Knuckles, expecting some sort of monster, waiting for a net to fly out of nowhere in attempt to catch him-

But the mountaintop was as grassy as the ground beneath it, albeit pointier, and nearly as deserted. There was no twenty foot-high robot waiting for him, no group of otherworldly monsters about to ambush him. All there was, looking just as confused as he felt, was Tails.

"Sonic?" the fox said blankly, blinking his bright blue eyes. "How did you-what?"

"Tails-I-where's Knuckles?" Sonic demanded, scanning the deserted mountaintop in case he missed something, but it became apparent after a few short seconds that there was no one other than Tails on this mountain.

"Isn't he with you?" Tails asked, cocking his head confusedly to the side. "I though he got away?"

Sonic shook his head. "Nah. What happened? I was at your house, Eggman was on the television, he said that you guys would be on the mountain, and that Amy'd be in the valley across from here."

"He was on the TV?" Tails frowned, looking seriously alarmed. "He has no limits. Anyways, you went into some sort of coma or something while telling me about what happened at Emerald Coast, so I gave up on trying to snap you out of it and went downstairs to check on Knuckles, only he was submerged in the huge blue ball of water and-" Tails eyes widened in horror, and he smacked himself on the forehead. "I'm so stupid! It was Chaos!" he swore violently before continuing. "He was holding his breath, motioning for me to run, to get you, but I couldn't just _leave _him there, I didn't know what the hell was going on, and the next thing I knew, I was trapped inside it too. And then, I don't know, we sort of melted through the ceiling and suddenly we were in the bathroom, and Chaos reached out and pulled back the shower curtain- didn't you hear Amy screaming?" Sonic shook his head, unable to do more than that, for fear for Amy was rapidly consuming him.

"It sorta went blank after that...I think he knocked us out somehow...I remember him dropping Amy in this field of roses...and the next thing I knew, I was waking up here."

Sonic had stopped listening when Tails said "field of roses." His mind grinded to a halt, becoming flooded with his first prophetic dream, which was capable of terrifying him more completely than the most horrific monster. He remembered how Void had dragged Amy into a portal of purple light in a field of roses, how powerless he had been to stop him. Was his nightmare about to come to fruition?

"Tails," Sonic said, his voice strangled with urgency. "We have to get to Amy right now. Do you remember that nightmare I told you about? Where I met Void in some field?"

Tails nodded, evidently unsure as to where this was going.

"I think it's about to happen for real, if it hasn't already. He's gonna take Amy and drag her to who- only- knows where, and then-then-" he was unable to continue, unable to put his fear into words. Tails' eyes widened in horrified understanding, and he opened his mouth to speak, but Sonic had already turned and sprinted away from him, running straight over the edge of the mountain, considering all the possibilities of what would happen if he did not beat Void to that field of roses-

What he did not consider was what would happen when he ran out into open air. For one ludicrous second, he was suspended there, his arms and legs working madly in attempt to propel himself forwards, and then he plunged downwards, as fast and heavy as a sack of rocks, tumbling end over end, unable to tell which dark blur was sky and which was land, and the only certain thing in his world was that when he hit the ground, he would not be able to get up-

And then a pair of arms caught him tightly around the stomach, halting his chaotic fall. The air was wrenched from Sonic's lungs but he did not care, and he looked up in amazement to see Tails hovering above them, his two Tails a dark yellow blur as he hovered in mid air, his face contorted with the effort of keeping Sonic airborne.

"Gotcha," he grunted as he began to fly forwards. "Try warning me next time you jump off a cliff though, okay?"

Sonic chose not to reply to this. "Tails, you gotta hurry up. If Amy's not already gone, she sure as hell will be by the time we get there."

Tails muttered something under his breath, and Sonic caught the words "obsessive" and "Insane".

_Obsessive, no, _he thought wryly. _Insane enough to travel as slow as Tails, yes._

Knuckles awoke as abruptly as though someone had slapped him in the face, and immediately closed his eyes again. There was a blindingly bright, artificial white light fixed above his head, visible beneath his closed lids.

_What the hell is Tails doing? _He asked himself angrily, attempting to sit up, but he found that he could not.

Knuckles froze as realizations and memories slammed themselves neatly inside his head. Chaos had captured him, then Tails, then finally Amy, and he had dropped the latter off in some field, and Tails on a mountaintop. And if Sonic and Tails were right-which they usually were- about Eggman being behind this, then-

Knuckles' eyes flew open, and he squinted in the bright light fixed above his head. Once he adjusted to the brightness, he attempted, once more, to sit up, and was unsurprised when he found he could not do so. Something cold and metallic was pressing against his chest, and he was able to crane his neck far enough off the cold metal table he was lying on to see a shiny silver restraint clasped around his chest, wrists and, from what he could feel, ankles. He fell back against the table he was bound to, struggling against the restraints around his wrists, using every ounce of strength he possessed, but it was no use. For several minutes, he kicked and fought, writhing and twisting and sliding up and down in attempt to free himself, but to no avail.

He collapsed, gasping and panting, against the cool surface, casting his gaze about him in attempt to figure out where he was. It didn't take long; the room his was in was constructed of metallic silver, and the handless door was painted with-a stab of anger went through him- the Eggman insignia. The sign fixed above it read "Eggborotory."

Knuckles let out a snort of laughter, and experienced a fleeting appreciation for how Amy, who had almost spent more time as Eggman's prisoner than not, kept herself generally composed in situations like this.

His eyes roved around the room, searching desperately for some way out, and then, he spotted it. It was feet from his right foot, a control panel featuring two unmarked buttons, one green, and one red. And as everyone knows, the green button could only mean one things. Knuckles tilted his foot as far as he could, his teeth bared, neck tendons flexing as he concentrated on reaching he button. The clasp around his ankle was biting painfully into his flesh, already raw from his previous attempt at escape, but the alternative was lying here until Eggman-or worse- came, so he pressed on.

"_Yes," _he hissed as he finally managed to tap the button with his toe, causing the clasps around him to emit pneumatic hisses as the lab table raised several feet off the ground and tilted into a vertical position. Abruptly, the clasps released him, and Knuckles fell onto his hands and knees, gasping for breath. It struck him as strange that he was this out of breath after lying down on a table, but then he remembered that Tails had spent half the day sticking him with needles, and he let out a low growl.

_Damn anaesthetic, _he cursed, raising his head and making to stand up, but he immediately froze.

Eggman was standing over him, his gloating smile nearly obscured by his massive brown moustache, his heavy breathing assaulting him with the disgusting smell of caffeine.

"Gah!" Knuckles hissed, leaping to his feet and attempting to back away, but he only slammed back into the lab table, which, to his horror, recaptured him via octobands, crushing him against the cold metal surface as it slid back into its horizontal position.

Knuckles writhed and fought, emitting a mixed stream of swearwords and insults, but he was as powerless against the machinery as a kitten was when faced with a dragon.

"Now, now, we can't have you hurting yourself!" Eggman chided, wagging a gloved finger in Knuckles' snarling face, and his evil smile widened. "Void, can you sort him out?"

Knuckles froze in ridiculous mid-writhe, his heart pounding violently in his ears as horror paralysed him. The silence seemed to solidify like ice around him as he contemplated what Eggman had said. _Void? _He thought, horrified. _Void?_

And then the screaming started, a chorus of terror that was accompanied by a portal of violent purple light, renting apart the impossible silence in Eggman's lab, smashing glass vials, making papers soar across the room. The sound was so terrible that Knuckles felt his consciousness shying away from it, unable to endure such morbidity, his ears screaming in pain as the noise assaulted him, and he was unaware that he himself were shouting in fear, for it was drowned out by the endless, pleading screams-

And then it was silent, the portal vanished, the chaos ending. Papers floated gracefully back to the ground, but Knuckles did not notice this. He was transfixed with horror as he stared out the figure that had taken the place of the portal, and the only way he could describe it was the horrible screams captured and bound in mortal form. The figure was ghostly grey, with a curtain of shocking emerald hair and swathed in strange sapphire robes. His slanting eyes were too large for his face, and were divided into amethyst galaxies and sapphire oceans.

"Void!" Knuckles hissed, masking his fear with the anger in voice. Void smiled, causing his face to light up with malicious pleasure, and he drifted towards the lab table he was bound to, his terrifying eyes still boring into Knuckles' dark purple ones, holding his horrified gaze. Knuckles was so absorbed in them that he did not even notice that his heart was throwing itself against his chest as if it hoped to burst out of them, and he was oblivious to the screams of his sub consciousness, which was imploring him to escape, not to allow Void to draw any nearer to him-

But as Void came to a halt over Knuckles, his overlarge eyes widened, until they not only took up the Maginaire's entire face, but Knuckles' whole world. He was lost in a confusing, sparkling mass of amethyst and sapphire, which was so thick that Knuckles had no way of knowing which way was up or down, unable to breath, unable to think, and he was sure he would die, alone in this alien world-

_Knuckles the Echidna,_ a cold, yet distinctly child-like voice said, echoing throughout the galaxies and oceans, which immediately lost their frightening quality. The stars twinkled brightly around him, the waves glistening with a kind of repetitive beauty, and Knuckles began to relax, still oblivious to his reeling sub consciousness, which knew what was happening-

_You are mine, _intoned the voice, without a trace of uncertainty._ You live to serve Dr. Eggman._

_Of course, _Knuckles responded, eager to please the voice, the one that had saved him from certain death in the chaos of amethyst and sapphire. _Forever._

_Good, _crowed the voice, and then, the amethyst-sapphire eyes released him with a blink. Knuckles gazed about dazedly, his entire perspective on Eggman's laboratory changed. The obese doctor before him no longer looked like the enemy he had recognized for so long, but an ally, someone to serve, to trust. Even Void, who he found more terrifying than the most horrific monster, no longer seemed that intimidating.

"Knuckles, I have a job for you," Eggman announced, his beady black eyes flashing from behind his tinted blue sunglasses as he punched the green button that would release him. "It regards the Master Emerald."

Knuckles straightened up at the mention of his master's treasure, whose fate he had not known after an ill-fated battle with...but the identity of whom he had been fighting with seemed to have left his mind, though the fact did not trouble him.

"Amy Rose has destroyed it," Eggman informed him, and as the octobands released him, Knuckles fell to the ground, not out of exhaustion, but from horror and rage. "And I need you to capture her, to bring her here so that we can make her pay for her crime."

"Of course," Knuckles growled, rage clawing at his voice as he bowed his head respectfully towards Eggman. "I'll find her."

Eggman smiled in satisfaction, displaying square, caffeine-stained teeth. "Take this," he said, grabbing Knuckles had and pouring a sickly-sweet smelling liquid onto his lethal metal knuckles. "It will help you knock her out. Now _go!"_

Knuckles nodded obediently, then turned and walked purposefully towards a heavy iron door across from him, labelled "Emergency Exit" in bright yellow block letters. He slid it aside with some effort, and suddenly a raging howling had filled the laboratory, the dark night roaring past him as the Egg Carrier sped over Emerald Valley. For a moment Knuckles stood there, letting the cold air tame his fury with Amy, and then he leapt out into open air, his arms extended like a diver, readying himself for vengeance.

Amy sneezed, and then shivered violently. _If I ever get my hands on that Chaos... _she thought angrily, wrapping her arms around herself in attempt to keep herself warm.

She was sitting in a field of roses, the cold night air forming delicate ice crystals and webs in her now-frozen hair. Her dress, which she had managed to seize after Chaos had interrupted her, was torn, and she had only a threadbare towel for extra warmth.

_What happened to Tails and Knuckles? _She wondered, sneezing again through chattering teeth. _Did they get away?_ But as she thought of how helpless the two of them looked, unconscious, suspended inside Chaos' immense body, she knew that they had no chance of escaping.

"Sonic where are you?" Amy cried in desperation, wishing her hero were here. But then she froze, her eyes widening in horror as she realized that her friend had not been suspended, unconscious, alongside Tails and Knuckles inside Chaos.

Had Chaos gone back for him, knowing that Sonic would have been driven by his determination to free herself and Tails and Knuckles and would likely have beaten him? Or- Amy's shudder had nothing to do with the cold this time- had he summoned Void to get him?

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Amy cried, leaping to her feet and throwing the damp towel off of her shoulders. Why, _why, _had she just sat there for what felt like hours, waiting to be rescued, when Sonic_ himself_ was in danger?

Amy glanced down as something brushed her leg, and she saw a late summer rose brushing up against her. After a split second's hesitation, she bent down and pulled it up out of the ground, thinking that it would be a nice gift for the friend she was about to set out to rescue. She turned slowly, and then let out a gasp of surprise, her hand flying to her throat as she realized someone was standing behind her.

"Knuckles!" she breathed, as her heart thudded unevenly in her chest. "Don't scare me like that!"

Knuckles did not respond; he stood with his arms folded across his chest, immersed in shadows and silvery moonlight, his eyes closed, looking like he was thinking hard about something. Though he looked identical to how he had when she had last seen him, Amy felt that there was something different about him, something _wrong,_ and she could not understand why fear was clutching her heart like a dying man does a life raft-

And then, slowly, he opened his dark purple eyes, and glared with surprising malevolence at Amy, whispered, "You're the reason the Master Emerald's gone."

Amy's heart faltered, her breath caught in her throat, and then, half amused, half indignant, she yelled, _"What?"_

What happened next was so fast that Amy could not understand why she was suddenly below Knuckles, crouched underneath his outstretched arm; clearly, he had tried to punch her, and she had reacted instinctively.

With a savage roar Knuckles lashed out in a hard kick, but Amy flung herself backwards, rolling end over end in a backwards somersault, while her mind reeled; the reason for her sense of foreboding at Knuckles' appearance was becoming clearer and clearer, fighting to reach the front of her mind-

"What's the matter with you?" she cried, while sashaying back and forth, dodging and twirling around Knuckles' increasingly violent punches. When one came within inches of her face, Amy let out a low snarl and pulled out her hammer, swinging it over her shoulder like a baseball bat, but Knuckles, just as quick as her, leaped back out of harm's way. They both stood, frozen, and then acted at the same time, Amy swinging her hammer furiously forwards, Knuckles throwing himself corkscrew-style through the air, his fists clenched, metallic knuckles glinting-

Her hammer connected with the side of Knuckles' head, and with a roar of pain the echidna was sent sprawling sideways, clutching at his head before landing in a limp heap upon the ground. "Ha!" Amy snorted, tossing her head in anger. "That's why guys shouldn't hit girls, Knucklehead."

She turned away from him, her heart pounding in her ears like a drum, both confused and enraged at Knuckles' attack upon her, but at the moment she was too angry to care that she may have dealt him serious damage when he had delayed her search for Sonic-

_But he _knows _Chaos was behind the Master Emerald getting destroyed! _Amy thought indignantly, one foot frozen in mid-air as the thought struck her. _So- _

"ARGH!" she screamed, falling forwards onto the ground as something collided with the small of her back. As her head hit the ground, Amy felt it spinning, and a horrible sense of weakness crept over her, the edges of her vision becoming lost to blackness-

"What...what the-?" she gasped in confusion, struggling to get to her feet, her head still spinning horribly. Knuckles' blurry form was visible before her, one arm extended in the punch he had dealt her. Something was dripping off his metallic knuckles, but, even from her swaying, twisted point of view, she could tell it wasn't blood.

"AMY, _NO!" _someone shouted from high above her, and Amy spun around, an act that caused her to overbalance and she fell weakly back to the ground, tilting on the brink of unconsciousness-

"Sonic," she whispered stupidly, for she knew it was he who had shouted. "Y-you came...for me..."

A bright cyan light appeared around her, and Amy felt herself become weightless, floating upwards as effortlessly as if she were in outer space. In some distant corner of her mind, Amy knew what was happening, but her brain was too exhausted to give audience to the thought. As she fell off of her precarious perch on consciousness, Amy felt the rose slip from her grasp, and in a slow, slurred voice, she murmured, "Goodbye, Sonic."

"AMY _NO!" _Sonic shouted, and his stomach seemed to drop to the ground beneath him as he watched, horrified, helpless, as Knuckles, whom had been faking injury, launched himself at Amy and punched her hard in the lower back.

Amy fell to the ground, and even from this far away, Sonic knew that something was wrong with her; the blow, though probably harsh, should not have been enough to make Amy stagger drunkly to her feet the way she did, or to cause her to fall back to the ground as she heard his shout.

And then, out of nowhere, the Egg Carrier, Eggman's massive rust coloured airship, descended from the thick white cloud in which they must have been hidden, and a thick beam of bright cyan light shot down towards the ground, directly above the place where Amy was now collapsed, where Knuckles was standing over her-

The two floated upwards, Amy as limp as a ragdoll, Knuckles holding himself as rigid as a board, and in a matter of seconds both they and the tractor beam had disappeared. The Egg Carrier hovered there for a second, as if Eggman knew that Sonic and Tails were looking on in horror, and then it rose upwards once more, rising up into the clouds once more, a burst of fire exploding out of the exhaust to show that it was on the move once more.

"Lemme down, Tails!" Sonic demanded, struggling against his friend's grip.

"Okay." Tails consented. "On three! One, two-"

"Three!" Sonic grunted, and Tails released him, allowing Sonic to plummet into a free fall towards the lightening grounds of Emerald Valley. He held himself stiff like Knuckles, squinting to protect himself against the merciless winds that clawed at his stiff form, and he felt like the uproarious noise it was making reflected the condition his mind was in perfectly.

_Amy's not gone...she's not...it's not possible! _He thought over and over again, only sparing Knuckles enough thought to identify him as the cause of her disappearance, as her attacker, as a betrayer-

He landed on the grass on the balls of his feet, absorbing the impact of it with his knees, and he ran forwards, to the place where a thin yellow towel lay discarded on the ground, marking the place where Amy and Knuckles had disappeared. His denial was fading, as the concrete evidence that what had just occurred was not, in fact, some morbid hallucination, that it had actually happened-

Something landed delicately on top of his head, and, lightning fast, Sonic whipped the thing off the top of his head, thinking that it was some sort of lightweight bomb, and he held it gingerly up to his face for examination.

It was not, in fact, a bomb, but a delicate red rose, several petals falling down around his head. Sonic's heart seemed to leap into his throat as he stared at it, and he held it up to his nose, inhaling its scent-

It smelled exactly like Amy.

Sonic's fist clenched around the flower, and he sank to his knees, his eyes shut tight to prevent the possibility of frustrated tears spilling over his cheeks. He heard Tails land beside him, and then fox patted him on the shoulder, muttering, "It's okay Sonic. We'll get her back."

But it was _not _okay; Amy was gone, taken by Knuckles to be held hostage by Eggman. For once in his life, Sonic had not been fast enough to save her, and the realization hit Sonic like a blow to the stomach, made ten times more painful because he knew that he could have prevented this, that Amy did not have to have been captured...

_What I want to know, _Sonic thought, and it took him a moment to identify the nearly overwhelming emotion that was rising up inside him as anger. _Is what the hell Knuckles wants with Amy? What could Eggman have told him that made him attack her?_

And then the rage became too much, exploding out of Sonic as he jumped to his feet, threw his gaze up to the brightening sky and shouted, "TRAITOR!"

Before he could stop himself, furious tears welled up in his eyes and ran down his cheeks, but he made no attempt to stem the flow, for he could not bring himself to do it. He knew that he should be on the move, leading Tails on an attempt to track the Egg Carrier, but he could not, his inexpressible rage rooting him to the spot, not allowing him to even blink.

Tails continued to pat his shoulder and speak in a low, comforting voice, and it was a mark of their friendship that he did not interrupt Sonic's mourning. The sun began to rise in earnest now, the velvety black transforming to brightest pink, to palest gold, and then finally to crystalline blue. The moment, he knew, should have been a wondrous, breathtaking thing, but all the beauty of the moment had been leeched away by the looming shadow of Amy's kidnap and Knuckles' betrayal...

Eventually, Sonic thawed out of his state of frozen state of shock, and he turned to face Tails, his eyes now completely dry. "We need to go after her." He spoke as if there had been no interruption, as if they had only just alighted upon the ground, that he had not wasted what was probably precious time lamenting events he could have prevented from occurring.

Tails nodded. "We can probably get back to the workshop in ten minutes, five if we're quick. Then we can get the Tornado and after that basta-"

But before Tails could complete his sentence, horrible, high pitched screams rent the air, and a purple light exploded into existence before Sonic, so blindingly bright that it made the sun look dim by comparison. Tails gave a weak moan beside him and, out of the corner of his eye, Sonic saw him slump to the ground. The screaming was wrecking havoc with his mind, and bile rose up in his throat, but he forced it back down, clenching his eyes shut and grinding his teeth, his hands clamped over his ears in an effort to dim the sound of the screaming.

He knew he should have been running away, but a furious desire to avenge Amy's kidnap kept him standing there, shouting at him to stand and fight Void, for it was as much the Maginaire's fault as it was his own. And then the screaming halted, the violent light vanished from outside his closed lids, and a huge, ringing silence enveloped him. Sonic's eyes slid open, and they alighted immediately upon the alien creature hovering before him, a cold smile upon his thin lips.

It was oppressive, amethyst-sapphire on offense, dark green on defence; both Sonic and Void refused to blink, their eyes boring into the others, both wishing each other slow, painful deaths. And then the temperature seemed to go down ten degrees, causing Sonic to snap out of his tense half crouch in favour of flinging himself at Void, murder in his heart, on his face-

But, to his utmost surprise, Sonic sped right through Void as if he were a ghost, and as he passed through him he plunged into deepest blackness, blackness so thick that Sonic was sure he was dead.

He twisted and turned, searching for something, anything that would differ from the sea of black but there was nothing, just endless darkness-

And then, Tails' voice sounded from what seemed like all around, a faint echo that was repeated hundreds of times, fainter with each one.

"Do you wanna see it Sonic?" the fox squealed excitedly. "I just fixed up the landing, is all?"

"Tails?" Sonic shouted, turning on the spot, searching fruitlessly for his friend. "Where are you?"

"Really?" Amy cried from nearby, and Sonic turned, his heart leaping into his throat, then sinking back down when he saw that she was not there. "Yay!"

It was too much; the blackness, the echoes of his friends' voices, the overwhelming reality of his predicament. Sonic's consciousness sought refuge in the bowls of his mind just as Amy whispered, "Goodbye, Sonic."


	6. Revelation of the True Enemy

When Amy opened her eyes, she experienced a brief second of déjà vu; the concrete grey ceiling sparked the strange emotion in her for the first time in weeks, and she couldn't quite figure out why. With a huge effort she sat up, her head spinning sickeningly as she did so.

She had somehow landed herself in a prison cell, the cold iron bars as thick as her waist, the floor, walls and ceiling all the same cement grey. Across from her was a cell just like her own, and the Eggman insignia was glaring down at her beneath the black block letters that read '25'.

A wave of exhaustion broke over her, which struck her as strange for she had been unconscious for who-only-knew how long, and with a weak moan she slumped back onto the cold floor, her mind spiralling back into darkness-

But suddenly, she an explosion of memories occurred inside her mind, and Amy's eyes flew back open like a startled bird's; Chaos, ambushing her in the shower; Knuckles-a hot mass of anger rose up in her as she thought of the echidna-attacking and knocking her out when she attempted to set out to find Sonic, and finally, a bright tractor beam of cyan light, a curious sense of weightlessness, and then blackness.

Shocked back into alertness, Amy sat bolt upright, her chest heaving. _So Knuckles is working for Eggman, huh? _She thought angrily, making to stand up, but there was a painful grinding noise of metal scraping on concrete and she fell hard back onto the ground.

"Oww!" she moaned, peeling herself up off the floor and turning to glare at the offender, which turned out to be a heavy iron black cuff chaining her right ankle to the wall. But something purple caught her eye, temporarily diverting her attention from her crude imprisonment; a plastic tube connected to a stainless silver electronic machine sat on the wall on her right, the tube filled with a thick, dark purple liquid. Her eyes followed the tube, looking for where it was feeding the liquid to, and she realized with a jolt of horror that it was pumping the mixture into her own arm.

With a cry of revulsion, Amy seized the tube and yanked it harshly away from herself; it came away slowly, reluctantly, like trying to tear paper out of glue, but it came away none the less, spraying her freely with its contents. The liquid was as thick as honey and smelled sickly sweet, the scent of it enough to make her head spin.

"Yeech!" She cried, hastily wiping the mixture out of her eyes. She was now almost completely purple, her dress now torn and dyed, her gloves looking like she had spent the afternoon finger painting.

"Just great!" Amy growled, seizing the tube and flinging it from her. It twisted and writhed through the air like some sort of decapitated snake, and it sprayed the walls and floor with its purple liquid, coming to a squirming rest in the corner beside the stainless silver machine, quickly creating a thick puddle of goo around the space where it lay.

She had not noticed it when she pulled it out, but Amy became suddenly became aware that her head had become mercifully clear, her strange sense of drowsiness gone. She cautiously raised her hands up to her face and gave it a hesitant sniff, now recognizing the sickeningly sweet smell as a powerful anaesthetic.

_That son of a bitch! _Amy cursed inwardly, her fists clenching as she pictured Eggman's gloating face in her mind. _He better find somewhere far away to hide for the next twenty years._

But she knew that before she could get her hands on Eggman, she needed to get out of her prison cell. And to do that, she needed to be free of the crude chain trapping her beside the wall. Automatically, Amy reached for her hammer, then stopped dead when she realized that she had probably been searched for weapons, and then continued to grope for it as she realized that there she had no choice but to try. To her incredulity, she felt her hammer, lodged as ever inside its hidden carrier. Letting out a surprised laugh, Amy pulled it out and twirled it expertly between her hands, a feral smile on her face.

She stood up carefully this time, then hopped as far away from the cold concrete wall as the metal chain would allow, so that it was pulled taught. As she raised her weapon above her head, Amy thought of Tails-Knuckles no longer counted-imprisoned inside of Chaos' body. It was more than likely that Eggman had him captured in one of these cells as well.

A mass of hot anger rose up inside her, and with an angry snarl Amy slammed her hammer upon the chain, creating a deafening clang and causing the chain to snap pathetically in half.

"_Yes!" _she hissed, a smile spreading across her face as she yanked the clamp around her ankle loose, tossing the fragment into the corner with the still-writhing tube. She then skipped to the edge of her cell, tapping one of the massive bars gingerly with her hammer head. It emitted a dull clunk, and Amy's heart sank; it was going to take more than a surge of anger to break one of these bars.

But with the eternal hopefulness that came with being a part of Sonic's group, Amy swung her hammer over her should and pounded it against the bar in front of her. A loud, bell-like clang sounded throughout the jail and the powerful vibration that travelled up her hammer made her hands ache. The tiniest of dents had been created in the smooth surface, and with a soft groan she raised her hammer once more...

After what seemed like an eternity punctuated by countless clanging blows, Amy had acquired throbbing hands, ringing ears and burning arms, but had also reduced the cell bars before her to a metallic mess. Weary though she was, Amy leaped out of her prison and into a hallway that seemed to stretch endlessly in both directions, with alleyways leading off to more hallways lined with cold cement cells. The lighting was unremarkably incandescent white, and there was a faint, untraceable humming that joined the pained ringing in her ears.

Her heart sank horribly-_How huge was this place? -_ But she had no choice but to set out, so she ran to her left, scanning the cells that lined both sides. All of them were empty, devoid of creature and machine, though the same abandoned black manacles were affixed to each wall, and this prison being Eggman's, Amy was sure that the paranoid doctor was somehow surveying right now, and knew that it was only a matter of time before gaurds-or worse- came after her.

The hallway went all the way to _150, _and she had counted at least a dozen side alleys, not to mention the possibility of another floor beneath her. With a sigh, Amy turned on her heel and ran back the other way, only able to make sure that she was still travelling down the right hallway because she marked her place with her own mangled cell. As she reached the other end of the hallway -_0-_ her determination had been greatly diminished and she sank to her knees, her chest heaving, clutching a stabbing pain in her side.

As her eyes began to slide closed, Amy spotted it; a dark blue shape, crumpled against the cell at the very end of the corridor leading off of this main one. Her heart burst into a sprint, and Amy sprang to her feet, tearing down the corridor on flying feet, her mind racing as fast as her legs. It couldn't be-it wasn't-

"SONIC!" she cried as she hurtled to a fluent stop before the cell at the end of the hallway. Sonic – for of course it was he- was slumped against the cold cell wall behind him, a similar tube pumping thick purple liquid into his arm, manacles attached to both his wrists and ankles, suspending him in mid-air.

But despite her cry of his name, he did not stir. "Sonic!" Amy repeated, a slight flare of annoyance rising up inside of her. "So-AGHHH!"

She let out a high-pitched scream of pain and staggered backwards, for she had tried to wrap her hands around the bars of his cell, which emitted an electrical cackle and sent a violent wave of electricity surging through her. Flapping her burning hands through the air and wiping pain-induced tears from her eyes, Amy withdrew her hammer again and, very cautiously, tapped its head against the bars.

Nothing happened.

"Ha!" she snarled, pulling her hammer over her shoulder and slamming it against the cold metal, setting to work with renewed vigour. In less than five minutes she had produced a large gap in the thick bars and rolled inside, careful not to touch the sides of the gap. Springing out of her roll, she ran towards Sonic and yanked the tube harshly from his arm.

The tube wriggled violently in her hand and Amy accidentally swallowed a mouthful of the mixture. It was ice cold and tasted like liquefied plastic, and she hastily spat it out.

"Urgh!" she cried, wiping her mouth on the back of her ruined gloves. "That's disgusting!"

"A-Amy?" Sonic asked confusedly from below her. "What- why are you all purple?"

Amy blushed profoundly, forgetting momentarily of her ruined visage as she said, "Eggman's little experimental goo."

Sonic looked confused for a second, and then his bright green eyes widened in comprehension, then almost instantly narrowed. "Any sign of that Knucklehead?" he asked angrily, and Amy's eyes flashed at the echidna's nickname.

"No," she answered, almost apologetically. "But when I get my hands on him-"

"We're gonna have to get out of here before we can do that," Sonic pointed out, and Amy nodded, raising her hammer. When Sonic's eyes widened apprehensively, she grimaced and said, "Would you rather stay here?"

Sonic swallowed, and then shrugged non-chalently, which Amy took as a sign to proceed. She leaped high into the air, her hammer raised high into the air above her head, and with a noise like "Hcha!" she brought it down upon the thick metal chain binding Sonic's arm to the wall. It snapped pathetically in two, as did the one beneath it. Sonic, looking impressed, tilted to the left, swinging like a board to where his other limbs were bound.

Amy repeated her actions, and Sonic immediately sprang up from the ground, rubbing his wrists gingerly. "Thanks, Amy!" he said gratefully, giving her a hasty hug. At their contact, Amy's heart burst into a sprint, and her cheeks reddened even more, but before she could return his actions, he had pulled away, dashing towards the hole in the bars.

"Wait! They're-" she called out in warning, but Sonic had already ducked through the gap without a wince.

"-electrified," she finished in a grumble, following suit.

The hallway looked exactly the same as it had before, only now Amy saw that most of the corridors were connected in a grid-like pattern. Sonic surveyed their predicament with an unimpressed expression on his face, as if Eggman had somehow failed to meet his standards, and said, "Any idea if Tails is in here?"

"No. This place is massive. It took me forever to even find you!" Amy told him, a slight plea for understanding in her voice. Sonic did not reply, but at that moment, there was a shrill, electronic beep from the corridor Amy's cell had been, and a thin red laser sight-like beam appeared, scanning the for-mentioned corridor.

Amy and Sonic exchanged looks, Amy's horrified and Sonic's grudgingly acceptant, and then, so quickly Amy wasn't sure how it had happened, she was in Sonic's arms once more, but only for the most fleeting of seconds, for he had tossed her up into the air, flying towards the ceiling-

Clamping a hand over her mouth to keep from screaming, Amy rose, as if in slow motion, and watched as Sonic took a running leap at the wall above his abandoned cell and jumped into the air, his feet connecting with the space above it. He turned a backwards somersault just as his feet hit the wall of the cell parallel his, and then he was flying towards her, his eyes narrowed with concentration, and he reached for her just as she reached for him. Then he had caught her against his chest once more, and time returned to normal, but she became aware that they were flying towards a circular window fixed to the ceiling, and she knew she would be sandwiched between the glass and him, and she shut her eyes, waiting for the impact-

But they came to a fluid stop, and nothing changed albeit Sonic's tightening grip upon her. Slowly, Amy opened her eyes, and she saw she was staring down at the concrete gray floor, not a frosted-glass window. Slowly, she turned her head to look at Sonic, who was anchoring them against the window with his legs and one arm spread eagled upon the thin ledge of the circular windowsill, the other arm keeping an iron grip on her. He raised his eyebrows, silently signalling for her to turn back around, and Amy did so, keeping one hand still clamped over her mouth to keep from crying out, and with good reason.

A robot, at least six feet high and painted pitch black, was rolling along the floor emitting a faint humming noise. It had no legs, for they had been replaced by a steamroller-like wheel, and the arms were replaced by a massive jet black laser cannon and a lethal looking silver blade. Its head was a thick, cube like screen, and it had pixelated, narrowed red eyes and a frowning mouth that was spewing the thin laser sight which was currently running up and down along the walls, coming nowhere close to their hiding spot however.

With bated breath, the two of them hid in tense silence, their eyes fixed upon the slowly moving robot. To their incredulous surprise, it did not react to the sight of Sonic's mangled cell, nor did it to any of the others. As it passed beneath them, Amy realized what its target was- _Them._ Just as it reached the halfway point of the corridor, the unthinkable happened.

Amy felt a sneeze coming on, and before she could stop it, her chest inflated and she let out the tiniest of sneezes, barely making a sound. But to her horror, she felt herself slip from Sonic's grasp and fall ground ward. She flipped onto her back and saw Sonic staring at her in furious incomprehension, his mouth open in a perfect 'o' of horror, one hand outstretched towards her as if hoping she would fly back towards him.

She couldn't help it; Amy unleashed a scream of horror as she tumbled through the air, and she saw, out of the corner of her eye, that the deadly-looking onyx robot had whipped around, and it raised its laser cannon, aiming with terrifying accuracy at her falling form-

"_NO!"_ Sonic roared, and he flung himself off of his precarious perch on the windowsill, curled into a tight ball of rage, reduced to a blurred blue streak as he charged through the air at the robot's outstretched weapon. There was a loud _BANG!, _a flash of cyan blue light that tore harmlessly above her head, and then Amy landed on her feet, far too lightly than she should have. Only then did she realize that someone's inescapably strong arms were wrapped around her torso, and she turned to stare at her saviour in wonder.

Knuckles was there, his hands on his knees as he panted heavily, his head bowed. Amy stared at him, frozen with shock, and then she drew her fist back and shouted, "_YOU?"_

And then she was punching him, every inch of the echidna that she could reach, her fury exiting her with each blow, then rekindling when she drew back her other fist. Knuckles' arms were thrown over his head, and in a muffled voice he shouted, "Amy-what the- _stop!"_

Suddenly, there was a streak of yellow and then Amy had been scooped up in someone's arms, the unknown person sprinting with her towards the corridor which she had woken up in. Amy glanced around in bewilderment, and she saw Tails, carrying her at arm's length and wearing a manic expression as he ran, giving her the impression that he was treating her like an active bomb.

"Tails! Let me go! _Let me go! _I wanna-get-_Knuckles!"_ she demanded, writhing unsuccessfully in attempt to get free of the fox's grip.

"Sorry, Amy," Tails told her, and suddenly, the concrete grey walls and cold metal bars had vanished from around them as Tails ran through a hole in the cement wall that was burned around the edges and out into what Amy recognized through painful past experience as the hallway of the Egg Carrier. It was stainless silver and incredibly technological, with laser eye scans outside every whisper-quiet door and cameras at every corner.

Still furious at her removal from Knuckles' vicinity, and anxious to find out what had happened to Sonic, Amy writhed violently in Tails' arms and managed to escape his loose grip. She landed unsteadily on her feet, but then regained her balance, turning to sprint head-first back the way they had come.

"AMY, GET _BACK _HERE!" Tails shouted furiously from behind her, and Amy turned to stick her tongue out at him, but then slammed painfully into a cold metal something.

Her head vibrating like a bell, Amy's vision began to spin and with a dazed, "Whoa!" she slumped to the ground. She heard Tails gasp in horror from behind her, but she was too disoriented to care; her world had been reduced to a blurred mass of silver and black, a pounding pain throbbing in her head, each one like a punch from a professional boxer.

Something blissfully cold pressed itself against the side of her head, and Amy felt a sharp, hook like thing seize her at the neck of her dress and hoist her into the air. She had the impression of travelling down the hallway, and only realized what their destination might be when the silvery blur all around her became a mass of concrete grey and cold black.

The air was full of shouts, metallic thuds, electronic crackles and what sounded like several laser beams being fired at once. The acrid smell of smoke and burning metal filled Amy's nostrils as she came to a lurching halt, swinging back and forth through the air in her suspended state, and the cold metal something was pressed harder against her aching head as a cold robotic voice intoned, "Stop or she dies!"

With a Herculean effort, Amy managed to raise her head, and her vision cleared enough for her to make out the forms of Sonic and Knuckles, frozen with their backs pressed together and expressions changing from feral snarls to horrified incredulity as they stared at her. About twenty robots, identical to the one that had originally come down the hallway, formed a tight circle around them, their pixelated eyes narrowed, scythes and laser cannons raised threateningly.

In a silence so immense that it seemed to pound on her eardrums, Sonic and Knuckles slowly raised their hands into the air, signifying their defeat. The robot holding her by the scruff of the neck released her, and as a weak slump she collapsed onto the ground, gasping for breath. "Pick her up," intoned the robot. "Or she'll be sweeping your remains up off the floor."

"No," she gasped out, trying unsuccessfully to raise her head. "S-Sonic...T-T-ails....r- _ARGH!"_

She cut herself off with a scream of pain as what felt like the side of the robot's cannon hit her harshly on the side of her head. Little stars erupted before her eyes, and she felt herself sliding in and out of consciousness. In an odd, detached sort of way, she heard someone snarl angrily, followed by running footsteps and the sickening sound of metal on flesh.

"Walk." The robot who had held her hostage ordered. Amy felt arms, not the cold, hard ones of the guards, but soft warm ones, pick her up off the ground and carry her in an unknown direction. Her head lolled back on the shoulders of the animal holding her, and the soft tickling of two swaying somethings told her it was Tails. She turned her head, an effort that felt like it might kill her, and, unable to focus on anything in particular and praying that Sonic was behind her, she choked out, "S-Sonic I'm...so....s-sorry I-" but with a little gasp she spiralled into unconsciousness.

For the entire course of their journey, she drifted in and out of awareness, and she couldn't have guessed where they were going if her life depended on it, though at one point she realized that she had been transferred to Sonic's arms. After what felt like an eternity of dizzy, unsubstantial unreality, their procession came to a halt. She heard someone's harsh voice cackling insanely, and as if she were standing at the other end of a long tunnel, she heard the man cry, "Void, put her in!"

"Eggman!" she protested in a slow slurred voice, and she felt herself be wrenched roughly out of Sonic's arms and thrown unceremoniously against what felt like shuddering glass. Something strapped itself over her mouth and nose, and she felt a gentle, breeze-like moisture being pumped out of it.

Amy was unconscious before you could say, "Crap".

"I'M GONNA KILL YOU!" Sonic roared, and before Eggman could do more than emit a pig-like squeal, the blue annoyance had flung himself upon him and was punching, kicking and biting every inch of him he could reach, snarling like a rabid animal. Tails almost instantly joined in the fray and Knuckles, whom Eggman had been confused about being brought in with the others, said in a low, menacing snarl of a voice, "When I'm done with you, you'll end up on your own operating table."

"_Void!" _Eggman screeched, as he received a painful kick in the gut. "Do something!"

Almost instantly, the lashing limbs of Sonic, Tails and Knuckles were removed from on top of him, and Eggman sat up, bruised, bleeding, but most of all, humiliated, and he saw the three of them struggling violently in mid air, being levitated towards the collection of modified prisons he had had built for just-such an occasion.

The prisons were, in his opinion, an ingenious masterpiece; constructed of reinforced Plexiglas, the tanks were cylindrical and, once activated, would fill rapidly with water. Then, oxygen masks would fit themselves upon the inhabitants –mixed, of course, with a little bit of anaesthetic –so the occupants would either be too exhausted to attempt to break out of the virtually indestructible prison or drown by taking the mask off.

As Eggman was being patched up by a medi-bot, he watched as Void slammed Knuckles and Tails into their cells, but as he made to throw Sonic –who at that moment was shouting "You cheating bastard, _let us go!"_ – the Maginaire froze, staring at Sonic with a mixture of horror and excitement.

"Void?" Eggman asked, dismissing the robot with a wave of his hand. "Is everything in order?"

Void did not answer; he unfroze and slammed Sonic into his cell with a contemptuous snarl and drifted back to allow Eggman to face his prisoners. Sonic was pounding angrily upon the soundproof glass, shouting unheard insults and shaking with rage, Tails and Knuckles doing similar things. But all three of them froze when they looked down to see themselves waist-deep in water. Sonic looked up in panic and began to pound urgently upon the glass, both pleading for Eggman to let him go and in a wasted attempt to escape.

"Now, now!" Eggman taunted gleefully, tapping on the glass between him and his arch nemesis and wagging a finger at him. "Do you really think I'd give oxygen masks to someone who just attacked me?"

But Void, apparently, had other ideas; he floated quickly over to the control panel and jabbed the button that would deploy the oxygen tanks to the three still-conscious animals. Eggman's smiling mouth curved into an ugly snarl as he watched Sonic's struggles grow feebler and feebler until his light green eyes closed and he began to drift limply inside his tank. Knuckles' forehead was bumping against the glass and somehow, streams of bubbles kept escaping into the water in Tails' tank as he let out an unrestrained snore.

Eggman turned away from his victims, feeling both confused and annoyed. "I'm sure you wouldn't know this, Void, but I usually taunt my prisoners before I-"but he broke off abruptly as he realized that the Maginaire was no longer in the room with him. "Void?" he addressed the room at large, peering frustratedly around his laboratory for a sign of the monster.

_Strange, _he thought, as it became plain that Void had left the lab. _Void usually leaves with a choir of screams to announce his departure._

He turned his back on the eerily floating forms of Sonic, Amy, Tails and Knuckles, but then immediately froze; upon his flat screen monitor was not the file he had had open when the procession of guards had returned, but what could have been a scene from a fantasy movie, though the doctor knew perfectly well that it was not. Void and Chaos were locked in a violent battle upon what looked like a flat, dusty red plain with a blank white sky, Chaos' overlarge limbs lashing angrily out at Void's dodging form, while the latter unleashed beam after beam of jet black light on the massive liquidy monster.

Eggman rushed forwards, goggling at his monitor and slapping it angrily when he realized he didn't have sound. He winced as each being dealt and received harsh blows. His stomach dropped down to his feet, however, when Chaos managed to whack Void with one overlarge arms, like a dinosaur would a fly, and the Maginaire tumbled end over end through the air, landing with resounding finality, forming a deep gorge in the ground as he skidded to a halt.

"_No!"_ Eggman gasped, actually stamping his foot in frustration, while his hands flapped anxiously through the air as he watched as his most valuable asset rose once more into the air, trembling violently, his arms wrapped tightly around his stomach, legs drawn up to his chest.

But then, the Maginaire's limbs snapped back into place with a motion that reminded Eggman oddly of an explosion. Chaos mirrored the action quite literally; he had gone unnaturally still as Void rose back into the air, but he hadn't been paying him any attention to him, so focused was he upon Void's fake predicament. But now the liquidy monster was receiving all of his attention as he watched as pillars of purest white light burst out of Chaos' chest, then head, then legs and arms until the entire screen was obscured with brightest white-

"Stupid machine!" growled Eggman, impatiently slapping the side of the monitor as goggled at the stubbornly white screen. "What's happening, what's happening?"

"Doctor Eggman?" came a soft, musical, wind-chime like voice from behind him. With an immasculine gasp, Eggman whirled around, his hand flying to his throat as he stared at the person behind him.

The figure was small, about the size of a young child and about as thin as one. It had a pale, human face with a small nose, thin pink lips and great crystalline blue eyes fixed intently upon his face, one hand clutching a massive, oval shaped ruby fixed upon her chest, which was clothed in a silken silver and softest pink skin tight top that attached seamlessly to her pants and doubled as boots. The tight pink outfit covered the newcomer's head like a swim cap, concealing any hair she, (for it was unquestionably female) might have had, though two small cones were pushing out from underneath the stretched fabric.

Eggman knew that this girl was none other than Lumina Flowlight, another Maginaire and the sister of Void, though he had never met a creature less like him; Lumina seemed to radiate a faint silver glow and had small, fluttering silver wings fixed upon her back that trailed rainbow sparkles, giving her the appearance of a bizarre angel.

"Lumina!" Eggman exclaimed in welcome, surprised and a little confused at her arrival. "What a pleasure to see you!"

Lumina inclined her head in acknowledgement of him speaking, but continued as if he had not done so. "Doctor Eggman, turn around if you please. My brother would like to speak to you."

Eggman obediently turned, but as soon as he had done so, he regretted it immensely; a pair of terrifying sapphire and amethyst eyes were staring at him, rapidly expanding so that they took up all of his field of vision. Eggman's eyes darted about, searching in terror for an escape route, for something other than the swirling sapphire-amethyst vortexes, but he could not find one. _HELP! _He screamed in desperation. _HELP!_

_Mortal, _came a voice, awfully cold but distinctly child like._ You have nothing to fear.._ Immediately, the sapphire-amethyst galaxy became calm and friendly, twinkling as harmlessly as stars down at him.

_Thank you!_ Eggman sighed gratefully, overjoyed that he had not suffered the slow and painful death the eyes had been promising him. _How can I ever repay you?  
Serve me! _Demanded the voice, and Eggman nodded; eternal servitude did not sound like that bad an exchange for his life.

_Forever! _He added hastily, eager to please this unknown person. A contented, cat-like purr sounded from in front of him, and then the eyes released him with a blink.

Eggman gazed dazedly about himself, a new perspective on life. Void was hovering before him, a smug expression on his face. "Go now," he told Eggman harshly, pointing at the door. "I'll call you if I require your assistance."

Eggman bowed. "Whatever you wish," he murmured, then turned to salute Lumina, who grimaced back. He then skipped past the unconscious forms of Sonic, Amy, Tails and Knuckles, whistling cheerily as he realized that he was free from the dangerous uncertainties that came with attempting to rule the world, that Void, his master and saviour, had taken that job permanently from him.

Lumina stared as the tall, immensely fat bald man skipped out of the room, waiting for the stainless silver door to slide closed behind him before speaking.

"Are you sure that was wise?" she demanded, her great blue eyes narrowing. "He's a liability. Illumina said-"

"She only said that we were to find her downfall ad sacrifice," Void interrupted her, his sapphire-amethyst eyes flashing. "And anyway, he's the only one who knows how to operate this stupid machinery."

"Have you found them, then?" Lumina whispered, sidetracked at the mention of Illumina. "Have you found the downfall and sacrifice?"

Void nodded, gesturing wordlessly to the space beyond her; Lumina whirled around sharply, staring wildly about for the indicated persons, but her eyes widened in horror as she registered the unconscious animals before her.

"Sonic?" she whispered, floating forwards in an almost unconscious way. "Amy? Tails? Knuckles?" She drifted forwards until she was inches from the glass between her and Tails, which she stroked gently.

_It can't be them, _she though in denial. _It just can't!_

"Void!" she shouted angrily, whirling around to face her brother. "These four are the saviours of Maginaryworld! The reasons we exist today! How could you-? How...." but she trailed off as something changed in the air around her; an impossible sense of pure power that radiated from two of the tanks assembled before her.

"Do you feel it?" Void whispered from beside her, and she jumped, not hearing his approach. "D you realise why I acted? Why I released you from the Temple, when Illumina said only one of us would be needed?"

"Which ones?" Lumina whispered, staring unseeingly at the unconscious Tails, her mind light years away, her heart hammering in her chest.

"The blue one," Void announced, and Lumina's eyes locked on to Sonic's peaceful face. "Is the downfall. I have seen his fears, and it's ironic, don't you think, how much he thinks of Illumina's saviour?"

"Who is...?" Lumina whispered, though she thought she knew the answer.

"The girl," Void breathed, stroking the glass between himself and Amy with the back of his hand. "The saviour. The ones Illumina has been so avidly seeking are the ones we encountered long before the goddess learned of the prophecy! How could we have not sensed this before?"

"Because we weren't searching for it at the time," Lumina answered distractedly, not really registering that she was speaking. Then her mind snapped back to the present and she floated high into the air, gazing down at Void with an expression of mixed fear and disgust at what she was about to do.

"Void, we need to warn Illumina!" she exclaimed, her vast blue eyes wide. Void nodded solemnly and he rose up through the air until he was level with her, reaching his hands towards her at the same moment she reached for his-

Indescribable agony tore through Lumina at his touch, and she began to shake and writhe violently, her mouth open in a wordless scream of pain, trying to wrench her hands out of her brother's grip, her body screaming for release, but Void hung on, his hands tightening over hers, knowing that the pain was necessary. But what was necessary, what was _worth _such pain? What could possibly be worth enduring the blazing fire that seemed to have replaced her blood, raging throughout her heart, taking over her brain, making it impossible to think, let alone plead for release-

And then Void felt his sister grow stiff, her wild jerks ceasing, and the agonized expression upon her face faded into oblivion. She stared unseeingly into space, her crystalline eyes blank, and then, still with that unknowing expression upon her face, she spoke in a voice most unlike her own.

"What is it Void?" she murmured, in a lovely voice that sounded like stardust and sunlight trapped in sound form.

"Goddess Illumina," he breathed, bowing his head respectively, still keeping a firm grip on his sister's hands. "When you tore yourself apart, commanding us to search this land of mortals for the ones that would either destroy or immortalize her, you weren't expecting us to find them, were you?"

Lumina's blank expression became one of incredulity, and she focused her bright eyes on him with some difficulty. "You've found them?" she whispered, still in that wonderful, floating voice. "My downfall and sacrifice?"

"Yes," Void answered, equally quiet and he towed Lumina gently through the air, down towards where the four Mobians were imprisoned. He stopped in front of Amy, whose head was bumping gently against the glass. Illumina stared at her through Lumina's eyes, a contemptuous expression upon her face as she stared at her, clearly unimpressed.

"What, these children?" scoffed his sister, staring disbelievingly at Void. "The ones who barely managed to save my world? How could they-"but she broke off, an expression of terror spreading across he childlike face. "The girl," she breathed, eyes swivelling over Void's face in fear. "Who is she?"

"The sacrifice," Void told her confidentially, and relief spread across Lumina's face, though her eyes remained terrified. "And the blue one-" –Lumina's eyes shifted automatically towards Sonic. "-is your downfall."

"Well, I don't see how the boy will be able to defeat me," Illumina said, not quite managing to sound indifferent. "Uncommon speed will not save you from deadly magical skill and thousands of years of knowledge."

"My lady, I could dispose of him now, if you want," Void offered quickly, his eyes searching Lumina's. "He is unconscious, it would be only too easy-"

"NO!" Illumina shouted sharply, her face wild with fury, as though Void had suggested something disgusting and horrific. Void withdrew slightly from his sister, reluctantly maintaining contact with her hands as her chest heaved up and down. After several seconds of silence, Lumina continued, still in Illumina's voice, which was now deadly quiet.

"I want to be the one to kill him, Void, and that's impossible when I have no body of my own. You have done well, Void, but no one but I will harm Sonic the Hedgehog. Now, make me whole; I wish to speak to my captives."

Void nodded, feeling both humiliated and furious. He leaned forwards and, without sparing a thought for what he was about to do, kissed his sister full on the lips. Immediately, pain such as he had known but never enjoyed tore through him, molten lava, liquid acid and crushing agony that felt like it was ripping him limb from limb. It was impossible to endure such mortal agony; Void's consciousness sought refuge in the bowels of his mind, and he embraced unconsciousness gratefully.


	7. A Goddess' Madness

Sonic was not having pleasant dreams.

He was standing on a floating platform constructed of purple-white light, suspended in an outer space that was most unlike the one surrounding Mobius, for every few seconds, massive, swirling constellations of light would appear, taking on the shape of gargantuan animals or the faces of strange alien beings.

But he was not paying the mystery of his whereabouts any attention, for he was surrounded by a group of towering creatures like solid shadows, with glowing red eyes devoid of whites and pupils, coupled with jet black fangs that dripped inky purple venom that burnt holes in the platform where it fell.

"What do you guys _want?" _Sonic shouted in frustration, sprinting towards a gap in the creatures, but they quickly closed it, one extending a massive, clawed hand and shoving him roughly back into the center of the circle.

The creatures laughed harshly, gnashing their pointy teeth and stomping their gnarled feet with mirth. "You cannot escape," rasped one through its laughter, its voice like shattered ice. "You have no hope of defeating all of us."

Sonic forced himself up off the ground, tensing into a half-crouch, his hands curled into fists. It was infuriating, being surrounded by these shadowy monsters that blocked his every move, yet they did not attack him, did not provide him with an opportunity to get under their defences and sprint past them. The thing he was after was obviously miles ahead of him now, and yet he knew that it had no chance of surviving this twisted alternate dimension without his help...

"GET OUT OF MY WAY!" he bellowed, and with that he flung himself forwards as a tight ball of pure speed, so fast that the creature had barely raised its arms in attempt to parry his attack before he had slammed into its chest with crushing force. The monster's eyes widened, until the burning red had claimed its entire head, travelling down its body and infecting the creatures on either side of it with the same bloody colour. Soon the entire circle had been claimed by the parasitic growth of red, each monster frozen in the position it had assumed when it had been dyed, and Sonic retreated several steps, his heart pounding in his chest. Then he flung himself forwards once more, ploughing straight through one of the monsters, which shattered like the ice its voice sounded like, the millions of shards slicing through the air in every direction but his.

On flying feet Sonic tore away from his enemies, knowing that they might unfreeze at any second, that he had already wasted enough time trying to fight them off. His eyes darted in every direction, searching the flat plateau for any signs of the thing he was after.

But something strange was happening to him, something horrific, unthinkable. His breath was coming in short, ragged bursts, but with each one his lungs burned as if they were on fire, as if the air they craved had somehow become water. Soon he was no longer running, but staggering forwards, coughing and choking, unable to breathe, his head spinning, every part of him screaming for air. He fell to on to his hands and knees, his head bowed, wheezing weakly, and he was certain that he was dying, that he had failed in his attempt to save the thing he needed most-

Sonic opened his eyes, awakening from his nightmare as abruptly as if someone had screamed in his ear. He immediately became aware that he was lying face down in a puddle of water, and the electronic humming of a dozen machines filled his ears, along with the sickly sweet smell of anaesthetic that burned his nose.

Slowly, dazedly, Sonic sat up, disoriented for the fourth time in so many days. Shaking his head vigorously in attempt to dry his fur, he gazed about himself in confusion, and immediately spotted Tails, his fur matted with water, an expression of horrified comprehension fixed upon his face. Not far away from him was Knuckles, shaking his head like a dog after a bath, looking just as disoriented as he felt. Sonic turned and saw Amy, splayed upon the ground, surrounded by water and shards of glass, though her head was raised so that she could stare at the person who was evidently the cause of Tails' horror.

The woman before them was breathtakingly beautiful, with long, perfectly straight silvery blonde hair that fell to her waist. She was clothed in flowing robes of lightest pink and soft white, embroidered with strange amethyst runes that glowed brightly, with a tall light pink hat that a priest might wear fixed upon her head. She had palest white skin and large, molten brown eyes, a small nose and a pink lipped mouth that was, at the moment, curled into a superior smile that drained her face from all its beauty.

"Illumina?" Sonic breathed, confused. "What-?"

"Sonic the Hedgehog," she murmured, in a voice as lovely as her appearance, one that sounded like stardust and sunlight. "Saviour of Maginaryworld. It's an honour to see you. I wish," her eyes narrowed slightly as they flickered between Amy, Tails and Knuckles. "I could say the same for your friends, who I seem to remember did not play a significant role in my world's salvation."

"Excuse me?" Amy cried indignantly, leaping to her feet and drawing her hammer. "We did more than you think! And the last time I checked, it was _you _we were saving your stupid little dream world from! And I'm pretty sure you weren't doing anything to help us, because you were sitting around playing a harp!"

She finished with an unimpressed snort, tossed her head and tensed slightly, as if anticipating a fight. Sonic stared at her in mixed awe and fear, his gaze flickering between her and Illumina, whose eyes flashed steelily, causing her to look even more frightening than before.

"Amy Rose," she murmured, her eyes boring into Amy's, apparently mesmerized at what she saw in them. "I'd very much like to destroy you, but first you must play your role in my quest. Still-"

The next thing Sonic knew, Amy was on the floor, rolling around and screaming in pain, her limbs thrashing from side to side, her back arched to breaking point, her eyes wide and displaying nothing but agony. As her screams increased in volume, Illumina, who hand one hand extended and curved into a claw as she pointed at Amy, shouted, "Do you still think you did anything to save my world, you stupid girl? That you are braver, stronger than me? How could-"

Sonic could not take anymore; the sound of Amy's tortured screams caused an explosion of grief and anger to occur inside him, and with a savage snarl he flung himself forwards, a ball of pure rage that tore through the air and slammed into Illumina's face with a satisfyingly loud _SMACK!_

The goddess fell backwards, surprise etched upon her face, and Sonic turned a backwards somersault before landing hard on his feet. His heart was pounding loudly in his ears, and suddenly, everything fell into place inside his mind, like he had found the missing piece to a jigsaw puzzle; Eggman would never have employed a being more cunning than himself, for he had the narcissistic need to be the most intelligent person in all of his operations. And now the doctor was nowhere to be seen. Illumina had obviously disposed of him and taken over as head of whatever he was planning, with Void and Chaos at her disposal.

_But what does she want?_

All this happened in less than a second, and yet it seemed to change everything, answering questions that he and the others could not, explaining Void's involvement in Eggman's scheme, making whatever he was planning a hundred times more sinister now that there was a supernatural entity involved. But Sonic didn't have time to marvel over what he had discovered; he registered that Amy had stopped screaming, and without taking his eyes off Illumina's falling form, he shouted, "Tails, take Amy and _go!"_

"NO!" Illumina screamed, and she turned a graceful somersault before falling to the floor, leaping up with murder on her face. "EGGMAN, _STOP THEM!"_

But the doctor, wherever he was, was in no position to help her; out of the corner of his eye, he saw a something pink and yellow streak out one of the many doors to the lab, which swished closed behind them. _Good, _Sonic thought grimly. _At least they're safe._

Before Illumina could do more than shake with rage, both he and Knuckles had flung themselves at her, Knuckles in the lead, his face contorted into a feral snarl, one hand pulled back over his shoulder, metal knuckles glinting lethally-

"_ENOUGH!" _screamed Illumina, flinging her arms out from her chest and causing a transparent wave of energy to explode off of her. As it passed through Sonic, he felt himself freeze like an ice sculpture, suspended helplessly in mid air, teeth still bared in fury. He could not blink, he could not shift his gaze; all he could do was stare furiously at Illumina, whose chest was heaving, her divine face sliding into an expression of superior disdain, as if she had defeated them both in a heated debate as opposed to freezing them where they were.

The goddess straightened up, then cocked her head to one side as she stared at Sonic with a cruel half-smile upon her face with the air of looking at a mildly interesting statue in a museum. "You must care about that girl a lot, Sonic the Hedgehog," she murmured in her soft voice, though her eyes flashed dangerously, causing his heart to burst into a terrified sprint.

A thousand insults rushed through his mind, though he was unable to voice any of them. Illumina's cruel smile widened at his silence, and, cocking her head further to the side, she whispered, "No? Well then, I supposed you won't mind if I feature her and this buffoon-_"_she stepped around him and walked towards were Knuckles was suspended ludicrously in mid-lunge, his dark purple eyes still expressing nothing but utmost rage. "-in a little battle against each other? A battle to the death?"

Sonic wondered if his heart was pumping liquefied fear through his veins instead of blood. Illumina looked over her shoulder at him and cast him a radiant smile, though her eyes remained as cold as ice, and she plucked Knuckles delicately out of the air and strode out of his line of vision, leaving him suspended in mid-air, boiling with rage like a volcano about to erupt.

There was a pneumatic whooshing noise which Sonic knew was the sound of one of the doors sliding closed, and then Illumina's lovely voice, magically magnified to a hundred times its natural volume, rent the silence apart.

"Amy Rose," the goddess thundered. "I applaud you and Miles Prower for your brave dash for freedom. I will allow you to leave this ship unharmed, though your friends will suffer if you do so. I don't think your friend Sonic would think it very _brave _of you to run out on him.

"I will wait for you for fifteen minutes, Amy Rose. You will find me in the airlock. Fifteen minutes, or your friends will suffer the consequences."

"NO!" Sonic roared, and Illumina's spell broke. He dropped heavily to the ground, but almost instantly leaped up to his feet, his heart hammering wildly. "AMY, TAILS, DON'T LISTEN TO HER!"

But both of them were obviously completely out of earshot of his warning. Déjà vu crashed over him, and his dream flashed through his mind. At least now he knew what the things he had been chasing were. Sonic ran at one of the four doors behind him that led out of the laboratory, but it refused to open. With a snarl, he proceeded to kick and punch at it with increasing desperation, but to no avail. He repeated his actions with the other three doors, but to identical results. Enraged at his helplessness, Sonic ran at a stainless silver trashcan and kicked it across the room. To his bewilderment, the door second from the left swished open. With an incredulous laugh, Sonic leaped through it, not caring whether or not this was the door Illumina had exited through, jubilant at his freedom.

The hallway he was standing in was completely different than the one the robot guards had marched them down; it was metallic blue, the wall before him dedicated entirely to a vast, tinted black window that revealed the starry, night time sky and a seemingly endless black ocean. In the window, he saw the reflection of a neon blue sign that pointed left and right. Sonic spun around and read '_Airlock, Weapons Locker, Hangar, Left Chute' _and underneath that, _'Research and Development, Experimental Weaponry, Right Chute'._

_What kind of idiot needs directions to get to around his own lair? _Sonic wondered idly, but his thoughts quickly changed from amused to turmoiled as he faced his predicament.

Amy would undoubtedly have believed Illumina's lie in saying that he and Knuckles had been captured by her, and was most likely attempting to get to the airlock with all her might. Tails had hopefully not bought the goddess' falsehood and was restraining Amy, preferably in either the R&D or experimental weaponry department. Gritting his teeth, Sonic considered his options; he could either take the right chute, attempt to find Tails and Amy and, if successful, take on Illumina and try to spring Knuckles free. Or, he could head straight to the airlock and scout out what the situation was there and, if possible, spring Knuckles.

For a moment, he stood, grappling in a violent internal struggle, and then, as abruptly as if someone invisible had given him instructions, turned and flashed towards the left chute, praying that Tails had enough sense to keep Amy from the place he was headed.

"I'm telling you Amy, she's _not lying!"_ Tails exclaimed, almost crying from exasperation. Amy meanwhile, folded her arms, turned her head to the side and angrily blew a strand of hair out of her face.

"And I'm telling _you, _Tails, she's calling a bluff!" she said fiercely.

"And what makes you think that?" Tails asked her, his tone dripping with sarcasm.

Amy glared at him for a moment, and then shouted, "Because Sonic's too good of a fighter to be caught by some stupid fairy princess!"

Tails let out a roar of exasperation; it was like trying to reason with someone who stubbornly preached that one plus one equalled three. "AMY, IT DOESN'T MATTER HOW GOOD A FIGHTER HE IS!" he shouted, and she flinched at the fury in his voice. "SHE WOULD HAVE TORTURED HIM INTO SUBMISSION, LIKE SHE DID YOU!"

Amy stared at him, her dark green eyes widening in horror; he might have just slapped her in the face. And then, so fast he wasn't sure how it happened, she was crying, soft wails of sorrow escaping her, and she sank to her knees, shaking uncontrollably.

"Aww, Amy!" Tails said, his exasperation morphing to sympathy in less than a second, and he sank to the floor beside her, patting her shoulder gently. "I didn't mean to upset you! It's just...probably what happened!"

Amy did not answer; if anything, she sobbed harder, her hands covering her face as she shook with agony. Tails continued to pat her on the shoulder, all the while gazing about, waiting for some horrific monster to pop out of the chute on their right, drawn to the R&D department by Amy's moans.

Then, so softly he could barely make out the words, Amy spoke. "B-Back in Eggman's l-l-lab," she hiccupped, lowering her hands so that she could stare at him with sparkling, puffy eyes. "Illumina wasn't m-making me f-feel physical p-pain. She sh-showed me a vision...a-and in it...Sonic s-said that – that he didn't care about m-me! He s-said that he didn't c-care what happened to me, as l-long as he never h-had to see me a-again!" And she collapsed onto the ground with renewed sobs, curled into a ball, her face pressed against her knees as she rocked back and forth. Tails stared at her, frowning slightly.

"She lied to you, Amy," he told her quietly. "How could you ever believe that Sonic didn't care about you?"

Amy merely hiccupped in response, though her sobs rapidly became little more than sniffles. Somewhere inside himself, Tails recognized the truth of his words; Sonic's reaction to Amy's kidnap at Knuckles' hands strengthened the suspicion he had harboured inside himself for several years.

"When Knuckles kidnapped you-" he began in a low voice, but suddenly, there was a scuffling noise at the other end of the hallway, accompanied by a muffled yell. Both his and Amy's heads whipped around to stare at the source of the noise, but at that moment, there was a noise like a laser beam being fired and the fluorescent lights that illuminated the hallway suddenly went out, plunging them into pitch blackness.

Tails leapt to his feet, and movement beside him told him Amy had done similarly. "Who's there?" she hissed, and Tails hastily groped through the darkness and clamped his hand over her mouth.

"Shhh!" he hissed, while she shouted something muffled at him. "It'll hear you!"

Amy removed his hand from her mouth, pausing only to slap his wrist smartly. "Don't be a baby!" she growled at him. "We need to get out of here!" And without further ado she marched away from him, in the direction of the chute they had come out of.

"Amy!" Tails moaned, starting after her, but he had only taken half a step when a new voice sounded from the darkness, a long way in front of them.

"Tails?" the voice hissed, and Tails' heart leaped as he recognized the speaker.

"_Sonic?" _he whispered, feeling blindly around as he ran forwards.

"Sonic?" Amy squealed in delight from somewhere close by.

"Amy?" Sonic asked incredulously, sounding much closer now. At that moment, the lights came back on, and Tails found himself blinking up confusedly into Sonic's surprised face.

Something pink whizzed past him, and suddenly Sonic was obscured entirely by Amy, who was hugging him so tightly she might have been trying to crush him. "Oh, Sonic, I knew you were okay!" she gushed, looking jubilantly up at his bemused face.

"Great to see you too, Amy," he replied, rolling his eyes at Tails over her head but smiling all the same. He firmly disentangled himself from her, looking at Tails as he said, "What happened back there? Did you hear that noise?"

"I was about to ask you the same question," Tails said, slightly confusedly. "Weren't you over there?"

Sonic opened his mouth to respond, but at that moment, an unearthial screech sounded from behind them, causing his hair to stand on end, and both he and Amy turned to see what was making the source of the noise.

Tails' heart jumped up to his throat as he saw what it was; a grotesque mass of jet back limbs was pouring out of the chute on their right, twisting and writhing as it rolled towards them, still emitting that horrible screeching cry. It bounced chaotically off the walls, the arms groping towards them, the legs kicking violently, and Tails was sure that if the thing caught them, they would be pummelled to death before they had gone a hundred yards.

"_RUN!"_ Amy screamed, and they made to sprint away from the thing, but Sonic was faster; catching Amy up in his arms and slinging her over his shoulder, he grabbed Tails with his free arm and half dragged, half guided him down the hallway, sprinting so fast that the walls appeared blurred. Unable to keep up with such an impossible speed, Tails feet did a kind of tap dance as Sonic pulled him along behind him, while the monster unleashed an impossibly loud, high pitched screech that caused him to jump so violently in alarm that he jerked out of Sonic's grip-

"_TAILS!" _shouted Sonic and Amy, as he skidded face-first into the wall, propelled by Sonic's momentum. Little stars erupted before his eyes as he collided painfully with the smooth metal surface, and he would have been perfectly happy to stay there, but he knew what the consequences would be of him doing so, so he forced himself up off the ground and tried to run after Sonic, but instead he staggered forwards drunkly, tripped over his own feet and sprawled face first onto the ground.

Amy was screaming something, but it was rendered incomprehensible by the near-deafening screeching of the monster that was bearing down upon them. Tails managed to lift his head up just in time to see Sonic leap into the blackness of the chute with Amy still in his arms, both of them looking back at him with expressions of utmost horror fixed upon their faces, but then, the immense black mass of limbs descended upon him, eclipsing his vision, and Tails was lost in a violently writhing sea of onyx.

"TAAAAIIIILS!" Amy screamed as they shot up the chute chaotically fast. Deep in her heart, she knew her friend could not hear her, but she refused to listen to logic. She was sure that that monster, whatever it was, was no match for Sonic, and if they hurried, they might just be able to pull Tails out of the mass.

Distressed as she was, she was not unable to marvel at the fact that she was in Sonic's arms once more, and that, yet again, he had saved her. She tried to look up into his face, but it was so dark in the chute that she couldn't see the hair that was whipping around her face.

Suddenly, they were expelled from the chute, out into a corridor lit only by the moonlight shining through the tinted window that took up the entire wall on their right. The two of them tumbled head over heels for a moment, and then Amy found herself sprawled awkwardly on top of Sonic. Blood rushed to her cheeks as she gasped for breath, both embarrassed and excited. Sonic blinked confusedly up at her, then, becoming aware of her position, the faintest of blushes appeared on his face. Slowly, he pushed himself upright, and Amy slid off his chest and onto the floor.

"Sorry," she gasped, but Sonic only shook his head, a small smile upon his face.

"It's not your fault," he muttered, pulling her to her feet. His expression suddenly became serious, and in a low, careful voice, he said, "I think we should turn ourselves in."

"_What?" _Amy said, her heart spluttering in her chest, sure she had heard incorrectly.

"We should turn ourselves in," Sonic repeated, his light green eyes locking onto her dark ones, and he took her hands in his own. Amy's blush deepened at the intensity of his gaze, but she stood her ground.

"Are you _crazy?" _she asked him, unsure why unease was creeping through her, why her heart was pounding like a jackrabbit's inside her chest. "She'll kill us!"

"You don't know that," Sonic said softly, and Amy could have sworn there was a faint red gleam in his eyes. "But _I _know that if we don't, that's exactly what she'll do to us. Goddess Illumina has divine powers, powers you could only dream of possessing. "

His grip on her hands tightened painfully, and Amy's subconciousness began to scream for her to run. "Why are you talking about that freak like that?" she demanded, fear constricting her voice as she tried unsuccessfully to pull her hands out of his. "Look, I'm going back to help Tails, and-"

"Amy?" a voice called from the other end of the semi-dark hallway, a voice laced with relief and panic, a voice that she recognized immediately, for it was so rarely out of her mind-

"SONIC!" she screamed, managing to wrench her hands out of the Sonic before her's grip. The Sonic growled and lunged forwards, the red gleam in his eyes now infecting the rest of his pupils, and then he had her by the throat, his hand clenching it tightly, determined to squeeze the life from it. Choking and spluttering, Amy pried at Sonic's fingers, trying desperately to loosen them, but to no avail. And then, through watering eyes, she saw a streak of dark blue, and then the hand on her throat was gone, leaving her to sprawl weakly onto the ground, gasping for breath. From behind her, she heard savage snarling, punctuated by the sound of flesh on flesh and grunts of pain, implying that a violent struggle was going on behind her.

Rolling out of her sprawled position on the floor, Amy turned, withdrawing her hammer as she did so, and she was met with one of the strangest sights she had ever seen, (and she had seen a lot of strange things). One Sonic was pinning another against the wall by his throat, both of them snarling ferally, the only difference between them was that the one trapped against the wall had burning red eyes. The imposter kicked the real Sonic hard in the chest, leapfrogged him when he doubled over in pain, and he flung himself at Amy, hands curved into claws as he reached towards her-

With a shriek of denial, Amy swung her hammer forwards like a baseball bat, and it connected with the fake Sonic's face. She felt his nose break with a satisfying _crunch _noise, and he was sent yowling backwards, to where the real Sonic was waiting in a tense half- crouch. With a wordless roar, he leaped into a backflip, his feet connecting with the imposter's stomach, and he was sent flying towards the ceiling. He hit it with a sickening crunch, and then fell like a sack of rocks back to the ground, limp as a ragdoll. For a split second, he lay perfectly still, and then disintegrated into a mass of tiny black particles that dissolved through the floor.

Amy stared at the place where the fake Sonic had disappeared, her chest heaving, hammer still in hands, still unsure as to what had just happened.

"Are you okay?" Sonic asked in a low voice, and her head snapped up, for she had forgotten, momentarily, that she was not alone.

Sonic was looking at her, looking anxious and concerned. There was a gash in his cheek, accompanied by several smaller ones on his arms and legs. His lip was slightly bloody and a bump was swelling on his forehead, but he did not allow any of this to interfere with his concern for her.

_He's hurt! _Amy thought, snapping out of her frozen state. _He's hurt, because he had to save me!_

And she began to cry weakly, sinking to the ground, not from pain, but from the knowledge that she had caused him to throw himself in harm's way for her sake, and she knew that if she had been a bit quicker and a lot more cautious, his injuries wouldn't have been necessary. She heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and then Sonic's arm was around her shoulder, a comforting warmth that allowed her to slowly regain her composure.

When her sobs had subsided somewhat, Sonic spun her around to face him, and said, in a low, intense voice, "What happened? Where's Tails?"

"I d-don't know!" Amy sniffled, brushing tears from her eyes. Sonic cocked an eyebrow as he pulled her to her feet, and she continued in a quavering voice.

"We were hiding outside the R&D department, and then we heard Illumina saying that she'd captured you. Tails thought she was telling the truth, but I didn't, and we were arguing-"

"Hang on," Sonic interrupted, his eyes sparkling with amusement and incredulity. "_Tails _bought Illumina's lie?"

Amy couldn't keep herself from laughing. "I knew she was lying!" she said, her voice becoming much stronger. "But anyways, we were arguing, and then there was this blackout in the hallway. When the lights came back on, you – what am I saying, that phoney – was there, except we though he was the real you, and then this shadow thing-" Sonic looked annoyed when she didn't provide a more detailed explanation than that, but in her eyes, that was all it was, "- came out of one of the chutes, and then you, I mean, _he _had me in his arms and we were running away, but then – then we lost Tails. The monster got him.

"Then we came back up this chute and the fake you was trying to convince me to turn ourselves in, and then I knew something was wrong, because I...I knew you'd never give in to Illumina's demands and...Well...you know the rest."

Sonic was silent for a moment, searching her eyes for something. Amy gazed back, mesmerized, but then, something like satisfaction rolled across his face and he released her with a blink. "Well, I guess we better try to find out where Illumina's keeping Tails and Knuckles." He said an anticipating smile upon his face.

"Isn't she in the airlock?" Amy asked, cocking her head to the side as she remembered the goddess' lying broadcast.

Sonic shook his head. "I just checked there; it's completely deserted. I don't really get why she'd try to get you guys to go somewhere she isn't." They were both silent for a moment, contemplating this new development, and then Amy said slowly, "I don't think she's in the R&D department, or the experimental weapons one, because me and Tails were shouting pretty loudly at each other, not to mention the noise that monster was making, and I'm sure she would have heard us."

"Yeah," Sonic nodded, seeming to come out of some sort of reverie. "Well, I don't really get why she'd lie, but that leaves the vehicle hangar and the weapons locker, so we'd better get over there."

Fear crashed over Amy as the realization of what they were about to do hit her like a tidal wave. Sonic seemed to guess what she was thinking, for he gave her a cocky wink and hastily clasped hands with her. "Do you think some dream world's princess is any match more us? When we've taken on twenty foot high robots and-" he gave a fake shudder of horror. "-Eggman?"

Amy laughed an act that dispelled her fear; it wasn't possible not to be infected by Sonic's confidence. With another wink, Sonic caught her up in his arms and sprinted towards the end of the dimly-lit hallway at an impossible speed, reaching the end of it in four seconds flat, and without hesitation he leapt into the blackness of the chute before them.

But instead of plunging downwards, as Amy knew they should have, they were rocketing upwards, towards a bright white light in the distance, the chaotic roar of tunnel winds sounding deafeningly in their ears.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Amy screamed over the din, her eyes wide with horror as she stared up into Sonic's shadowy face.

"Nothing good!" Sonic shouted back, his arms tightening around her. "Hang on, we're about to-"

But she drowned out the rest of his sentence with a terrified shriek; the chute dispelled them with a faint popping noise, and Amy flew out of Sonic's grip, tumbling head over heels and eventually coming to a painful, resounding halt on what felt like a sandy plateau. Spitting sand from her mouth, Amy shook her head to get rid of the fluffy whiteness and pushed herself into kneeling position, gazing about in terror.

They had landed themselves in what she could only describe as a massive battle arena; blinding white lights illuminated it more effectively than sunlight did a clearing, and it was as wide and long as two football fields, with hundreds of empty grey seats rising up to the heavens. A great glass dome loomed over head, revealing the starry black sky and full white moon.

"Where are we?" she murmured, getting heavily to her feet and brushing sand out of her ruined dress.

"I don't know," Sonic replied, and she turned to see him standing with his hands balled into tight fists, vigilant eyes examining every inch of the arena. "But I'm sure Illumina's behind it."

"Right you are, Sonic!" came the goddess' booming cry, seemingly from all around them, and with a startled scream Amy flung herself at Sonic, cowering against him. Sonic turned to see that a massive monitor was rising out of the sandy ground some hundred feet away from them, causing swirling clouds of the stuff to rise up in every direction. Illumina's face smiled triumphantly out at them, her pale white hands clasped beneath her chin, molten brown eyes radiating happiness.

"I hope you two like the changes I've made to Dr. Eggman's personal chambers," she cried, her eyes flashing dangerously. "I had a feeling you two might not be smart enough to figure out where I was actually waiting for you, so I rigged all the chutes to deposit you here."

"What do you want?" Sonic shouted, prying Amy off of his chest and spinning her around so that she was hidden from view.

A shadow seemed to pass over Illumina's divine face, and her wicked eyes narrowed, her mouth curving into a cruel smile that leeched her of all her beauty. "What do I want?" she asked, tapping her chin with a thin finger, apparently contemplating his question. "Just to see how powerful you two are, I suppose." She paused, glaring down at them like a dragon does at its prey, then murmured, "Turn around."

In perfect unison, the two of them whirled around, but Amy would have given anything she owned to have not listened to the goddess; rising silently out of the ground on a stainless steel metal platform was the most massive robot she had ever seen, at least six storeys high, a titanic version of the guards who they had faced off with in Eggman's prison so long ago. It had a gigantic television screen for a head, displaying narrowed, pixelated red eyes, and it's torso was obscured entirely by heavy artillery; grenades, missiles, bundles of dynamite, just to name a few. Unlike its miniature, both arms had been replaced by massive laser cannons, each as big as yachts, and it had an enormous, steam roller-like wheel instead of legs.

"Robotnik was_ ever_ so kind to allow me to borrow it," Illumina explained from behind them, and the relish in her voice should have been illegal. "It's powered by Chaos Emeralds, you see, so there's no chance of it tiring out. And just to make things a bit more interesting...."

From behind the robot, Amy saw two small tanks, similar to the ones that they had been imprisoned inside in Eggman's laboratory, rise out of the ground. She struggled to see past the robot the see what was inside it, and then, with a little gasp of horror, cried, "TAILS! KNUCKLES! _NO!" _

Both Tails and Knuckles were trapped inside it, bound by heavy black manacles, both shouting curses at Illumina, as well as desperate warnings at Amy and Sonic, both of which were deafened by the soundproof glass they were imprisoned inside. On top of their prisons was a large black clock that displayed the number _120, _and strapped to either side of it were massive red bundles of TNT.

"It's a bomb, you see," Illumina declared, with the air of informing Sonic he was blue. "Set to detonate in two minutes. Timer starts...now. Good luck!" And with that the screen went blank.

Amy felt an overwhelming sense of hopelessness claim her, one that put the terror Void had induced in her to shame. The robot before them started to move, its gargantuan wheel turning slowly, and its cannon began to emit a low, continuous beep that she knew meant it was charging up. From behind it, she heard the unmistakable sound of the clock on top of Tails and Knuckles' prison counting downwards, depleting the little time they had been given to work with.

"What are we going to do?" she asked helplessly, turning to stare desperately at Sonic, who was staring at the robot through narrowed eyes with a calculating expression on his face.

"Find its power source," he replied confidently, as if he did this every day. Then, shifting his gaze so that he was looking at her out of the corner of his eye, he asked, "Are you ready?"

Amy gulped. "Can anyone ever be ready to do something like this?" Nevertheless, she started forwards at a run, an act mirrored by Sonic, albeit ten times faster, but just as quickly, she stopped.

"Sonic!" she cried, as an idea struck her like a bolt of lightning. Sonic dug his heels into the ground and skidded to a stop, turning to look over his shoulder at her as he shouted, "_What?"_

"Do you think you could propel yourself over that thing?" she demanded, starting to run forwards again.

"Yeah." He answered after the slightest hesitation; clearly, he was not seeing where she was going with this. "Why?"

"Because," she panted, finally catching up with him. "If we can get Tails and Knuckles loose and keep it close to the bomb, it'll detonate and destroy the robot!"


	8. The Impossibile Task

Sonic stopped dead in his tracks as Amy's words washed over him. _It's so simple, _he thought, as the sounds of the titanic robot's charging laser cannon, the steady ticking of the bomb's timer, seemed to have been put on mute. _But so brilliant!_

"Genius!" he shouted, turning around and pulling Amy into a tight hug. "Amy, you're a _genius!"_

Amy blushed; clearly, extreme situations did not dim her appreciation for embraces like these. Sonic hastily released her, motioning for her to start running again as he said, "Do you think you could catapult yourself over that thing with your hammer?"

Amy nodded wordlessly, panting slightly at the effort of keeping up with him, and Sonic gave her a cocky wink. "On three?" he asked her, and she nodded, her dark green eyes sparkling with resolve.

"One," she panted, drawing her hammer and raising it over her shoulder.

"Two," Sonic grunted his every muscle tightening as he prepared to launch himself forward.

"THREE!" they shouted together, and out of the corner of his eye, Sonic saw Amy slam her hammer upon the ground with crushing force, an act that caused her to rocket off the ground like a plane taking flight, so that she easily cleared the robot's head, plummeting out of sight in under five seconds. AS soon as she disappeared from view, Sonic launched himself forwards with a sonic _BOOM!, _and he sprinted past the robot at a speed that easily outstripped sound, reducing him to little more than a dark blue streak. He hurtled to a resounding halt in front of Tails and Knuckles' prisons just as Amy landed gracefully on her feet right beside him.

Both Tails and Knuckles were pounding on the glass, their hands bound together with heavy iron manacles, both shouting at the top of their lungs, and though he could not hear them, Sonic could easily read their lips. _Get out of here! _They were shouting in unison. _We'll find a way out of here!_

"Not in little over a minute, you won't," Sonic muttered, staring at the timer on top of the tanks through narrowed eyes, for the bright green numbers were reading _98 _and descending. Then, slightly louder, he called, "Amy, can you-?"

"Leave it to me!" she cried in response, and she raised her massive hammer above her head, her green eyes flaming with fury. With a noise like, "Hcha!" she slammed her hammer against the glass between herself and Knuckles, an act that should have shattered it to a thousand pieces at the very least, but it only caused the faintest tremor to shudder through it, leaving the glass perfectly pristine.

Sonic swore violently – _Reinforced Plexiglas, _he cursed – and prepared to attack Tails-'prison, but before he could, a ringing clicking sounded from behind them, and he turned, as if in slow motion, to see Eggman's robot glaring down at them with a pixelated grin of triumph on its face, one of its cannons held horizontally across its chest, no longer an onyx black, but a flaming red, and with slow but deadly accuracy it pointed its cannon at the spot where the four of them were clustered, little sparks flying from the nozzle-

"AMY, _LOOK OUT!" _Sonic shouted, but he did not wait for Amy to have a look at their predicament; faster than light, he flung himself at her, knocking her roughly to the side, and at the same moment, there was an ear-splitting _BANG _from behind them, followed almost instantly by a flash of plasmatic blue light, the massive beam rocketing harmlessly over Tails and Knuckles prisons, slamming instead into the towering bleachers some hundred feet away.

As Sonic and Amy skidded to a halt on the sandy ground, the force of the beams impact shook their very cores, tossing them up off the ground as easily as if they weighed no more than feathers. Sonic leaped to his feet, pulling Amy up with him, and as he turned around his stomach seemed to fall through the violently shaking ground beneath him. The robot, clearly as lethally merciless as it looked, had loaded its other cannon with at least a dozen missiles strapped to its chest, and with deadly precision it pointed at the place where they stood, frozen with terror, and fired.

"_NO!" _Amy's scream of denial reverberated through the air, and she whipped out her hammer, slamming it as forcefully as she could onto the ground before her. Like the deadliest fighter jet she rocketed through the air, her hammer drawn over her shoulder, speeding towards the approaching missiles, each glowing with blue flames for the speed they were travelling at. Half awed, half terrified, Sonic watched, rooted to the spot, as Amy flew towards the nearest missile, brought her hammer back over her shoulder and slammed it back towards the robot like a baseball player does a ball. With a high pitched whine, the missile spun through the air, trailing thick grey smoke, swerving unsteadily back towards the titanic machine, which was unable to react quickly enough to avoid being struck by the speeding artillery; the missile slammed into its massive head with a disproportional explosion of noise, causing the head to burst into flames and creating a sizzling gap where it connected. Ten more times Amy repeated her actions, slamming the missiles back towards the robot, each time causing large gaps to be made in its head, so that by the time she reached the last one, the screen had more craters in it than the moon and was no more distinct than a flaming pile of metal.

But, to Sonic's horror, Amy did not send the final missile whining back towards its launcher; instead, she seized it with both hands and wrestled it violently in mid-air for a moment, then managed to turn it around and caused it to speed back towards the robot.

Sonic didn't understand what she was planning, or why she had planned it; all he knew was that she could not be allowed to slam into the technological giant. And so he ran forwards, faster than he ever had before, outstripping both light and sound in his advance, tearing away from Tails and Knuckles and the bomb that would kill them all, towards Amy, the only thing that mattered right now-

"_AMY!" _he roared, flinging himself into the air in a desperate attempt to catch up to her. Amy was twenty feet from the giant now and descending, and even at the chaotic speed he was travelling at, there wasn't enough time left for him to reach her-

And then, when she was mere feet from the robot's obscured chest, Amy let go of the missile, allowing herself to plummet downwards, twirling and spiralling through the air. The moment the missile made contact with the robot, there was a deafening supernova of noise that rent the air, accompanied by a fantastic explosion of grenades and dynamite, the heat of which hit Sonic like a blast of wind. The mighty bot fell forwards with resounding finality, an act that caused the ground to shake more violently than if an earthquake was ravaging it. The billowing cloud of flames that exploded out of its chest rose up and crashed into the glass dome above them, and it shattered with an ear-splitting explosion of noise.

"_YES!" _Amy screamed, punching the air in triumph as she fell back down to earth; Sonic had eyes for no one but her, and as she flipped on to her back to face him, her eyes sparkling with tears of joy, he shouted, "YOU DID IT, AMY! _YOU DID IT!"_

But the joyous moment was rent apart by a blood curdling scream of outrage, and Illumina appeared out of nowhere in a flash of palest lavender light, her divine face twisted with inhumane fury, and from her palm she unleashed a jagged bolt of blinding lightning that crackled with electricity, speeding towards Sonic's ascending form-

Instead it hit Amy, whose scream of utmost pain mingled with Illumina's one of equally agonized denial. For a moment, his friend's form was illuminated with golden light, her arms and legs spread eagled, giving her the bizarre appearance of a shooting star, but then the light disappeared, leaving her a smoking burnt black. Sonic caught her against his chest, his eyes wide, and as they began to fall back towards the ground, the same thought kept flying through his mind, _No...it didn't happen...she didn't...Amy's not dead...I've gotta be hallucinating...no way..._

He landed hard on his feet, Amy limp in his arms, and with utmost care Sonic laid her upon the ground, not sure why tears were burning in his eyes when she was not actually dead. "Amy?" he said in a hoarse whisper. "Amy, speak to me!"

At the sound of her name, Amy's eyes fluttered open, dark green orbs against her blackened profile. "S-Sonic..." she murmured, and, trembling violently, she raised her head up off the ground. Their lips met for the briefest second, and then she gave a little gasp and fell limply back to the ground, and her half-lidded eyes were blank. Sonic pressed the side of his head to her chest, his own heart throwing itself violently against his ribs, weak with fear.

No heartbeat.

With a howl of outraged denial, Sonic collapsed across Amy's chest, remorse eclipsing him so completely that every memory, every thought was driven from his mind, except for the fact that Amy was gone, dead by Illumina's hand, that the goddess had sent her to a place he could not follow.

The scene of Illumina's lightning bolt striking Amy seemed to be running like a film inside his head, rewinding each time it occurred, happening in slow motion, and each time he watched it, Sonic's heart gave an agonizing throb inside his chest, as if bolts of lightning were savaging it, too. His sorrow was the only real thing in the world, that and Amy's body, which he clutched at like a drowning man does a life raft, the remains of his friend, the one he had been fighting to keep alive for what seemed like an eternity, an eternity that had come to an abrupt and violent end...

How long he lay there he did not know, the still-present threat of the bomb, the imprisoned Tails and Knuckles seemed incredibly far away, as if they were belonged on another planet, things he had known in another lifetime. The next thing Sonic knew, however, was impossible rage, filling him up like an active volcano, so that he began to shake, not with sorrow, but with a most terrible fury that he had never known. He exploded to his feet with a thunderous roar, and the next thing he became aware of was that the air had been filled with a low, almost musical hum, a sound produced by the hovering forms of the seven Chaos Emeralds, red, green, yellow, blue, purple, cyan and white, all glowing as bright as miniature suns, forming a loose circle around him. And then, quite abruptly, they swarmed forwards, shooting inside of him as fast as bullets from guns, filling him with heat that seemed to be his rage converted into temperature form-

And then his rage seemed to be multiplied by a hundredfold, so powerful that he was sure he was dead, too. It was impossible to be filled with this much hatred and still be alive, he reasoned.

Yet he _was _alive, and he was filled with more energy than he had been at any point in his life. He cast a casual glance at his arms, and saw, to his mild surprise, that they had turned molten gold, glowing more brightly than the sun, which he felt just as powerful as. His every muscle burned with strength and energy, and he felt like he could have run around Mobius in five seconds flat, but the only thing he wanted to do, the only thing that had the possibility of ceasing his impossible flow of hatred, was bringing about the death of the Maginaire above him.

Without conscious thought Sonic jumped into the air and flew, literally flew, upwards, rocketing towards the heavens with a deafening sonic _BOOM! _In less than a second he had come to a halt, hovering before Illumina, whose face displayed nothing but utmost shock; clearly, she had not expected to be faced with someone who was prepared to avenge the death of the girl she had just murdered.

As he looked into her eyes, darkest brown locking onto brightest gold, his anger seemed to take on a physical form, transforming the blood that pumped through his veins into molten lava, and he knew that he would not be able to sustain the heat for more than a second, so he channelled all his fury into screaming two words, two words that he had never spoken in his entire life-

"_CHAOS CONTROL!"_

With an explosion of sound, his fury burst out of him as a massive arc of purest white light that impaled Illumina straight through the chest. All the sound seemed to have been sucked from the arena as the goddess was launched backwards, as if in slow motion, her back arched to breaking point, eyes wide with horror, arms thrown out from her sides-

And then she exploded into a million sparkling particles, the noise, which was impossible disproportionate to the goddess' size, reaching deafening point, but it did not quite manage to drown out Illumina's scream of agony. Sonic fell back to the ground, holding himself as rigid as a board, savage pleasure coursing through him in the place of his anger, and he knew that he could not let the emotion cease, for the moment it did, so would his newfound power, and he had to do one more thing before he let that happen.

He absorbed the impact of the landing on the balls of his feet, and he sprinted towards the place where Amy lay, limp as a ragdoll, blackened and smoking faintly. Sonic knelt beside her, taking her up in his arms and raising her limp head towards his. And then, fully aware of what he was doing, Sonic kissed her, bringing his lips forcefully upon hers, siphoning all his impossible power into the point of contact, pleading with the forces above, _Please, let her live...let her live...she didn't deserve to die...let her live..._

And then, something like a massive, invisible hand forced the once more dark blue Sonic away from Amy. Sonic opened his eyes – _When had they closed? – _and saw that Amy was floating several inches off the ground, her form surrounded by a translucent cocoon of bright gold light. She was no longer a burnt black, but returned to her usual light pink, and then, the light that surrounded her condensed into a tight orb that shot into her chest, causing a blinding white current to pass over her form. The whiteness exploded off of her and their surroundings were immediately eclipsed by it. Amy's cheeks flooded with colour, she drew in a deep breath that caused her back to arch, and then her eyes fluttered upon, looking incredulous. Sonic didn't dare breath, as if one sound might somehow shatter her newly returned life, merely gazing at her in wonder. Amy turned her head to stare at him in amazement, and as she floated gently back to the place where the ground had been, she cried, in an almost accusatory voice, "You _kissed _me!"

Sonic rolled his eyes, though a smile spread across his face. "Only so you wouldn't die." He retorted in an amused sort of way.

Amy started to laugh, something that Sonic quickly became infected by, and the sound of it soon filled the air as completely as the white light had their surroundings. Eventually, Sonic managed to stop himself, panting slightly and clutching his burning sides. Amy began to regain control too, and when she had managed it, she giggled, "Where are Tails and Knuckles?"

Sonic froze, and his eyes widened with horror as her words hit him like a punch in the gut. Amy's death and Illumina's destruction had driven the thoughts of his two other friends from his mind, and a sickening feeling of terrified shame rose up inside of him like vomit. But a memory had come crashing to the front of his mind, one that drove all but Tails and Knuckles from his mind.

Illumina, exploding with a disproportional amount of noise, becoming little more than a mass of glittering particles. The noise, which had made no sense at the time, suddenly became terrifyingly significant, and Sonic's eyes met Amy's questioning ones, willing her to understand.

"The bomb," he croaked, and Amy's mouth formed a perfect 'o' of horror, her expression similar to one who had just witnessed a brutal murder.

Sonic was reeling; he had saved one friend, but lost two others, and no matter how he tried to justify it in his mind, he could not make himself feel any better. He was by no means sorry he had saved Amy, but the loss of Tails and Knuckles was like the horrified sorrow he had experienced at her death multiplied by two. _You could have saved all three of them, _said the hollow, ringing voice of shame inside his head. _Amy had the robot covered, she wouldn't have died if I hadn't gone after her, because Illumina was aiming for me and just happened to miss. I could have broken Tails and Knuckles out and that way all...they wouldn't...they wouldn't be-_

But his guilt, his overpowering grieving was interrupted by the abrupt return of their surroundings. Sonic and Amy were suspended in mid-air for the briefest second, during which Sonic saw that they were thousands of feet up off the ground, surrounded by pristinely blue sky and far below them, stretching out endlessly in every direction, were rolling green hills covered with lush, dark jade forests.

That was all he had time to see, however, for the next thing he knew, Sonic was falling, plummeting downwards like a plane lost control, spinning end over end in a chaotic descent, the howling wind and Amy's terrified screams deafening him, the world reduced to a confusing mass of streaking blue and green. He couldn't have told someone where the ground was if his life depended on it, and the only thing he was certain of was that when they finally reached the ground, Death would surely catch them-

And then, out of the blue, a pair of incredibly strong arms seized him around the stomach, knocking the breath from his lungs but effectively halting his chaotic descent, and Sonic looked up, gasping for the air that had been knocked out of him, and saw that Tails had caught him, his teeth clenched in concentration, two tails spinning above them like a plane's propeller. He looked down at Sonic and, through tightly gritted teeth, grunted, "Knuckles – has – Amy."

Sonic did not speak, for he did not want Tails to exert any more effort on speech than he had to. He hung in silence as Tails dropped to the ground, tightly in control, unable to stop marvelling at the fact that, for the second time in so many minutes, Death had been cheated out of its victims...

Not long after, Tails landed heavily on the ground, and he immediately released Sonic in favour of collapsing heavily upon the grass, his whole body heaving with rattling breaths. Sonic flopped onto the ground, similarly exhausted, and when he felt two more bodies land heavily on either side of him, he knew Knuckles and Amy had survived as well.

"How are you guys alive?" Sonic panted, forcing himself into sitting position and staring at Tails in an almost accusatory way. The fox was leaning against a boulder, his chest still heaving, bright blue eyes shut tight. Knuckles was lying face down on the grass on Sonic's right, and was at the moment peeling himself off the grass. Amy was sitting on his left, looking more dismayed at her ruined dress than the fact that they had nearly been killed.

Slowly, Tails' eyes slid open so that he could stare at Sonic in amazement. "Trust me," he panted. "We're just as surprised as you two are." He took another moment to catch his breath, and then, in a slightly less winded voice, started to explain.

"Well," he began, leaning back against the rock. "We saw Amy destroy the robot...and when Illumina killed her," at this, Amy let out a soft whimper and huddled closer to Sonic, who leaned away as casually as he could. Tails' fixed Sonic with an awed stare and said in a hushed voice, "Sonic, you were crazy. We know for a fact that Eggman only managed to get his hands on three Chaos Emeralds, and you somehow summoned the rest of them! And when you destroyed Illumina..." he trailed off, still looking amazed, but then Knuckles cleared his throat loudly and Tails gave a little jump, continuing, "What we didn't see was...well...Sonic, how did you bring Amy back to life?"

"He kissed me!" Amy said fiercely, tossing her head, as though such a thing was totally obvious. At her words, Tails went tomato red and Knuckles burst into loud guffaws of laughter. Sonic could feel his own face burning slightly with embarrassment and, morely so that he wouldn't have to listen to Knuckles' laughter than anything else, said loudly, "So, what happened after that? Didn't the bomb explode?"

"Well, yeah," Tails said, his voice shaking slightly with the strain of not laughing. "But we knew that you guys wouldn't be around to get us out, so we did it ourselves. Knuckles managed to break through the chains just after Amy took off to head off those missiles, and he broke his way out. Then he sprung me out of my tank and we ran towards the robot, 'cause we wanted to help you guys, but then you killed Illumina, and, you know..." Tails inclined his head towards Amy before continuing.

"Everything went white when you landed beside Amy, we couldn't see anything except each other, and the next thing we knew, we were a thousand feet in the air. Then you guys appeared about twenty feet below us and, well, you know the rest."

Sonic nodded, for he understood everything Tails had said perfectly. The only thing he didn't know, however, was something he voice aloud.

"So where are we?" he asked slowly, gazing about himself. It felt strangely familiar to him, though he was sure he had never been here before. "Mobius?"

"Well," Tails suddenly looked uncomfortable, for he shifted his weight nervously and eyed Sonic with an uneasy expression. "Don't freak out or anything-" at this, Sonic narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "-but we think we're in Maginaryworld."

"WHAT?" Sonic shouted, exploding to his feet, not quite sure why he was so mad, or, in fact, how Tails had predicted his reaction.

Knuckles eyed him coolly, then spoke for the first time. "Tails thinks that when you kissed Amy-" both he and Tails started to snicker. "-that it created a blast of positive Chaos energy that caused a portal to open. Illumina was still floating around in the arena, and since she's the essence of Maginaryworld, they went into the portal and affected the place where it deposited us."

Sonic and Amy exchanged bewildered looks, neither having understood a word of what Knuckles had said.

"In English, please," Amy asked Tails pointedly, and the fox smiled embarrassedly.

"Illumina probably isn't dead," he explained, twiddling his thumbs as he spoke. "If she was, we don't think Maginaryworld would still be here. Her particles were still in the air when you created that portal, Sonic, and so they affected the place where we were deposited."

Sonic contemplated Tails theory, then shrugged, knowing that he would be hard pressed to come up with one of his own, and that if Tails thought that was where they were, he was probably right. The explanation also explained the mystery of why their surroundings felt familiar; he recognized that they were in Nature Zone, one of the five worlds that made up Maginaryworld, the hot, sticky jungle created by the dreams of those who wished to be one with nature, (he, personally, had never felt such a desire).

"How are we going to get home?" Amy asked, her eyes round with fear, but it was Knuckles who answered this time.

"Simple," he said, folding his arms behind his head as he leaned unconcernedly back on the grass. "We find the seven Chaos Emeralds, Sonic kisses you again, opens up a portal and we're back on Mobius." At this, both the echidna and Tails burst into laughter.

Amy's eyes narrowed and she tossed her head to get her hair out of her eyes, shouting over their laughter. "We don't even know if the Chaos Emeralds are in this dimension!" she cried in exasperation, throwing her hands up into the air.

"Oh, I think they are," Sonic said, a smile spreading across his face, and he pointed to a hill in the distance. "Look."

Knuckles and Tails stopped laughing and turned, as one, to look at the place where he was pointing. A ruby red glow was emanating from the top of the hill, a glow that the four of them were all too familiar with. There was a beat of absolute silence, and then they broke into a run, Sonic in the lead, tearing towards the place where they knew a Chaos Emerald was lying-

"A Chaos Emerald!" Tails cried as, staring at the glowing jewel in Sonic's hands as he preceded Knuckles and Amy to the top of the hill. "Nice job, Sonic!"

"Seven more to go," Knuckles said pessimistically, though he was smiling hugely and gave Sonic a playful punch on the shoulder. "Nice one. But how-"

Tails gave a loud gasp, and Sonic spun around, expecting some sort of terrifying monster to be charging out of the forest, but there wasn't one. He turned back around, slightly annoyed, to see Tails handing everyone bright yellow watch-like devices. When no one shouted out about his brilliance, he said smugly, "They're comlinks. They'll help us keep in touch with each other and detect Chaos energy, on top of alot of other stuff."

Knuckles gave a fake cough that sounded suspiciously like, "Nerd!" but Sonic grinned at Tails appreciatively as he strapped his to his wrist.

"You're a genius," he said fervently, and Tails grinned. "You don't know how much time these'll save us_..._actually, you probably do."

"We should probably split up," Amy suggested, checking her hair in the comlink's tiny screen. "I'll go with Sonic!_" _she added, giving him an adoring smile. Sonic automatically backed away from her, his hands in front of his face. "Actually, I think you'd better go with Knuckles," he said hastily, and Amy's face fell. Sonic felt slightly guilty, but not enough so to make him change his mind.

"Come on!" Knuckles said, tapping Amy on the shoulder, an evil grin upon his face. "If you find a Chaos Emerald, Sonic might give you another kiss!"

Amy's scream of outrage rang shrilly throughout Nature Zone, as did Knuckles' loud guffaws as he dragged Amy down the other side of the hill. Sonic couldn't help but laugh, wondering idly if the next time he saw Knuckles, he would still have all his bones intact.

As Knuckles' laughter died away, he turned and sprinted down the side of the hill they had climbed up, Tails leaping up into the air and speeding along above him.

"Do you really think Illumina's still alive?" Sonic shouted up at his friend, for the concern had been present in his mind ever since the fox had voice the suspicion.

"I don't know," Tails called back, sounding distressed. "I don't think Maginaryworld would still exist if she was, but I don't understand how she could have survived that attack!" they were both silent for a moment, and then Tails said worriedly, "What about Void? Or Eggman?"

Sonic's heart sank; he had forgotten about the Maginaire and the mystery of Eggman's whereabouts in all the drama of Illumina's conversion to evil. He didn't see how Eggman could have followed them to Maginaryworld this time, for he hadn't been in the battle arena with them when the portal opened, but he could never count the conniving doctor out.

Where was Void? What had happened to Illumina? And why was the goddess trying to kill them in the first place? Was she part of Eggman's scheme, like Void and Chaos – another monster whose whereabouts they did not know – or did she have her own motives?

Neither Tails nor he had the answer to any of those questions.

Void let out an outraged roar of frustration, kicking the air furiously and causing Lumina to shrink away from them, her pixie-like face terrified.

"Calm down!" his sister pleaded, her eyes shining with tears. "Void, please-"

"Calm down?" Void let out a mirthless screech of laughter as he wheeled around to face his sister. "We were this close_, THIS CLOSE," _he shouted the last two words, holding his thumb and forefinger a millimetre apart and shoving it in Lumina's face. "TO DESTROYING SONIC THE HEDGEHOG, AND INSTEAD, HE IS NOW AWARE HE HAS STRANGE MAGICAL POWERS!"

"Please," Lumina whispered, tears pouring down her face, her crystalline eyes wide. "Please, let's ask Illumina what to do, she always knows!"

"Illumina," Void repeated dazedly, as if he had never heard the goddess' name before. "Yes...she'll know what to do..."

He reached out and took Lumina's hands, oblivious to her shakes and screams, for he was lost in thought, thinking about the consequences of all that had happened in the last hour, of how dire their situation would be if Sonic somehow learned the reason behind his powers...

"What is it, Void?" Illumina's weak murmur tore him away from his thoughts, and Void felt sick at how faint the goddess' voice was.

"Goddess Illumina," he murmured, bowing his head, staring at his sister's hands. "I beg you, search Maginaryworld for Sonic the Hedgehog."

"You could find them yourself, Void, if you and Lumina weren't cowering inside the Temple of Light," Illumina said scornfully, and Void's respectful smile became an ugly snarl. He looked up to see Lumina staring at him with a contemptuous expression upon her face.

"You needn't look far," his sister continued in the goddess' lovely voice. "He's currently hiding out in Nature Zone."

Void nearly wrenched his hands out of Lumina's, shocked into speaking. "He...he's _here? _In Maginaryworld?"

"That's what I said, Void." Illumina snapped, and Void's hands clenched angrily in Lumina's. "Also with him are Amy Rose, Miles Prower and Knuckles the Echidna."

Void's eyebrows rose sceptically, forming an arrowhead above his widening eyes. "Hasn't the girl been killed?" he asked, forcing himself to keep his tone even, though he was seething inside, furious at the goddess' treatment of him.

"Apparently not, and we must count ourselves lucky that she has not died," Illumina responded, her voice almost thoughtful. "You know Void, I have been thinking; you and Lumina both make up half of me, and when united, I gain a body. You know what I desire; a body of my own, for the three of us to be separate entities. But, as you know, a whole cannot be complete unless both pieces _themselves _are whole." Lumina paused, staring at Void with a calculating expression on her face, as though anticipating his reaction to what she was about to say.

"_You _are not whole, Void, and until you are, I will not have a body. I thought that the sacrifice's role is to fall to the cause of the one who desires to become invincible, but my perspective on that changed recently."

Void felt as though his insides were rapidly solidifying into ice as Illumina's words washed over him. "You want me to-"he said in a mortified whisper and Illumina said coolly, "Precisely."

Void's hands slipped out of Lumina's grip, and he floated down to the cold stone floor, his hands clutching either side of his head, his mind reeling at what Illumina wanted him to do. "How can I do that, Lumina?" he asked his sister hoarsely, feeling the weight of his thousand-plus years weighing down upon him.

"But if you don't," Lumina whispered, placing a hand upon his head. "Illumina will kill you first."


	9. An Old World, A New Ally

"Knuckles wait up!" Amy's whine sounded from far behind him, pleading, imploring, but he did not turn. _It's easier than giving in, _he assuaged his conscience.

The air was incredibly hot and sticky, almost wet to breath in, and massive bugs wove in and out of the ample amount vegetation. The dying sunlight shone through the green filter of the canopy of leaves that hung high above them, and the air was thick with the strange, hooting cries of hidden animals, none of which he had seen.

Knuckles clambered heavily over a fallen tree, swatting irritably at a mosquito that had gotten too close to him. The hunt for Chaos Emeralds wasn't going nearly as well as he had expected it to, and Amy was more of a hindrance than a source of comic relief, especially since she had taken a whack at him with her hammer after one of his snide remarks. The back of his head was still throbbing.

A shrill, electronic cry rent apart the relative silence of Nature Zone, causing Knuckles to jump about a foot in the air, expecting a maelstrom of warfare to rain down upon him. But the cry, he realized, had come from the comlink on his wrist, which was now vibrating annoyingly. He flipped the comlink open and was momentarily surprised to see Amy's face glaring up at him.

"Knuckles, I can't see you anymore!" she whined, tapping the screen with irritation.

"Tough," Knuckles growled, continuing to walk forwards.

"You'd think we'd want to stick together, seeing as we're in a murderous goddess' domain now," Amy said sarcastically, rolling her dark green eyes with irritation. "But _no, _you have to be Mr. _I-Don't-Need-To-Stick-Together, _and-" she stopped talking suddenly, and her eyes narrowed. "Never mind, I can see you. Keep walking, Knucklehead." And with that she cut the connection.

"Thanks for the call," Knuckles grumbled sarcastically, and he snapped the comlink shut. He glanced back to see whether or not her could actually see Amy, but as soon as he did so, his foot caught on a taught, low-lying vine.

"What the-" as he fell forwards, Knuckles felt the vine tighten around his ankle, and he was hoisted roughly into the air.

"_AMY!" _he roared in outrage, swinging back and forth like some ludicrous bat, struggling violently to loosen the vine around his ankle, but to no avail. "LEMME-"

"Down?" came a sarcastic voice from beside him.

Knuckles whirled around to see Amy hanging beside him, looking thoroughly unamused as she struggled to keep her arms folded and her dress from displaying layers of undergarments.

"Oh," Knuckles said, struggling not to laugh. "You didn't do this?"

"_Me?" _I don't expose my undergarments if I can help it, Knucklehead."

"I'm not so sure," Knuckles breathed, but Amy apparently did not hear him. She reached up and plucked her headband out of her shoulder length hair, and casually flicked her wrist so that a shiny silver blade flashed out of the side of it. She glared at Knuckles, who froze instantly.

"I – you –" he began, his gaze shifting from her angry face to the blade in her hand, but she merely sighed and handed it to him.

"Cut us loose, Knuckles. Try not to stab me." She said sarcastically. Knuckles glared at her, his patience waning, and he drew back his arm, slashing the blade through the air and cutting easily through both his and Amy's bindings. They both plunged downwards, and Amy let out a shrill scream, but Knuckles drew her tight against his chest, clamping a hand over her mouth and flipping them both upright. They landed hard on their feet, and Knuckles immediately released her.

"Thanks," she muttered, accepting her headband from him and placing it carefully back in her hair. Before he could turn to set out again, she said hastily, "Don't you think we should call it quits? I mean, if we haven't found a Chaos Emerald yet, we probably won't find one before it gets dark and, let's face it, that's not far off."

Knuckles had to admit she had a point; almost no sunlight penetrated this part of the jungle, and the little sky he could see had turned light purple, streaked liberally with orange. "Alright," he agreed reluctantly, hating the thought of defeat. "Let's call Sonic and Tails, maybe they found something."

Amy had already whipped open her comlink, tapping upon its miniscule keyboard. Knuckles opened his to find Sonic and Tails squished on to the tiny screen. Sonic looked expectant and Tails, nervous.

"What's up?" was Sonic's greeting, and he could tell from his bobbing head that the hedgehog was running.

"Is everything okay?" Tails asked anxiously, his blue eyes round with anxiety.

"We're fine," Knuckles assured them, wondering idly whether either of their concern was focused on himself. "We got caught in a trap a few minutes ago –"

"_WHAT?" _shouted Sonic and Tails, both of their eyes popping. Knuckles disregarded this, plowing on as though there had been no interruption.

"Amy's got a few tricks up her sleeve," he smirked. "Watch yourself, Sonic." Sonic flicked the screen and Amy smacked him across the back of the head, so that his eyes watered with pain.

"Anyways," Amy said, tossing her head angrily. "We haven't found anything yet, so-"

"Amy," Knuckles said suddenly, for he had spotted movement up ahead. He pointed at where what looked like a white and green cloak was disappearing around a group of thick trunked trees. With silent nods to each other, he and Amy closed their comlinks, ignoring Tails cry of, "What's happening?" and Sonic's almost whiney shout of, "Knucky, what's up?"

Like hunting panthers, the Mobians sprinted forwards, dodging silently between the trees, leaping over bushes and skirting deep pits in the ground. But the faster they ran, the faster their query did, no more distinct than a white and green speck, flying through the jungle like an arrow from a bow.

But Knuckles was faster – a bullet from a gun. With a grunt of concentration, Knuckles leapt into the air and flew forwards, catching the air with his long spikes of red fur, shooting through the air at a speed Sonic would have been proud of, leaving Amy far behind and easily catching up with the running unknown, who looked to be about the same size as the girl he had left far behind-

Just as the trees broke apart to reveal a field of rolling green hills, he caught up with his query, rugby tackling it so that they tumbled to the ground. The creature emitted a shrill that told him that whatever it was, it was female.

The creature was writhing beneath him, trying desperately to get free, but it was no match for his strength. Pinning its arms behind its back police-to-fugitive style, he opened his comlink and pummelled the call button.

For a moment, the screen was an unresponsive blue, and then it flashed to life, dividing itself into thirds, showing his three companions; Sonic's head was bobbing faster than ever, looking intrigued, Tails looked as though he might be about to faint from anxiety, and Amy looked unamused as she ran, struggling to keep herself in herself in her comlink's camera's view.

"Amy, grab a vine or two," he commanded, still wrestling with the creature beneath him. "Sonic, Tails, get over here quick; looks like someone's been spying on us." He directed his comlink at the creature beneath him, examining it closely as he did so; it had dark jade hair that brushed her shoulders, and was sheathed in a close fitting dress that bore a strange resemblance to a flower bud, which explained the mystery of the white and green. As he twisted around to look at its lower half, he saw that her dress' bottom resembled flower petals blooming outwards, that it wore slipper-like jade shoes that matched her hair colour and that she had pale, greenish-white skin that seemed to glow faintly.

"Alright, we're on our way," Tails affirmed, and he cut the connection. Sonic followed suit with a reassuring wink, and heaving breathing from behind him told him Amy was approaching.

Knuckles struggled upright, his arms forming an iron cage around his captive, determined not to let her escape. He turned slowly to see that Amy was running hard towards him, dragging two thick green vines behind her.

"Here," was her breathless greeting, and she handed one of the vines to him, while she herself began to bind the female's legs tightly together. Knuckles wrapped his vine tightly around the creature's arms, binding them to her sides, and the silence she had kept was rent by her plea of, "Please, let me go!"

She had a soft, strangely accented voice, one that reminded him oddly of a light breeze and swaying flowers.

"Yeah," he snorted, tying a tight knot with the vine and standing back to admire his handiwork. "Like we'd do that."

"Why didn't you take me with you?" Amy demanded, still slightly breathless and plainly not listening to anything he or the girl had said as she straightened up to stare questioningly at Knuckles.

"Because," Knuckles said, in a low, gruff voice. "If this girl posed any real threat, you needed to be able to get back to Sonic and Tails."

"Sonic?" the girl asked suddenly, hopping around to face them. Knuckles saw that the girl had a kind face, with thin pink lips and a small nose, her dark jade hair covering her eyebrows, and her bright blue eyes, so alike Tails', had an ancient sadness about them that struck a strange cord of sorrow inside of him. "Sonic the Hedgehog? Do you know him?

Amy, who had been blushing and staring embarrassedly at Knuckles, looked around to stare at the girl through narrowed eyes. "Yes, of course we know him!" she snapped, her hands on her hips.

The girl surveyed Amy through her orb like eyes, as though she were a mildly interesting painting. "Who are you?" she asked politely, and Knuckles could practically see the rage bubbling inside of Amy, who tossed her head angrily and said, "_I'm_ Amy Rose, Sonic's girlfriend! What's it to you?"

The girl's eyes widened, and she seemed more shocked at Amy's words than the tone in which she spoke them. "So," she murmured, her eyes sparkling in the dying light. "Both of them, here, and yet unaware..." without offering any explanation for her words, her eyes snapped back into focus and she said, "My name is Cosmo, the last of the Seedrians. Please, you must listen to what I'm about to tell you, for every word of it is true. You are in mortal danger here, more than I can say." Knuckles couldn't help but notice that she seemed to be speaking only to Amy. "Illumina will stop at nothing to capture you and Sonic, and you can be sure that it will be ten times harder to escape her in Maginaryworld than it was on Mobius."

Knuckles eyes narrowed suspiciously at her words, and he automatically tensed in preparation for a struggle. "How do you know where we're from?" he demanded, and Cosmo's bright eyes shifted to meet his with an intelligent glow.

"Because I overheard Void and Lumina Flowlight discussing it, back in the Temple of Light," Cosmo responded in her strangely accented voice. "I've been held captive there for over three years now, and I only just escaped yesterday, in attempt to warn the four of you."

Knuckles and Amy exchanged unsure looks, neither fully believing the Seedrian's tale, nor were they convinced that she was lying. Knuckles wordlessly motioned for Amy to contact Sonic and Tails, and then turned back to Cosmo, who was staring at him imploringly.

"Well," he began slowly, slightly uncomfortable at the intensity of the Seedrian's gaze. "We're going to call our friends, Sonic and Miles Pro – err... Tails, then we'll decide what to do with you. But," his suspicions rekindled as his stare became a glare. "How do we know you're not some spy, acting as a decoy for Illumina while she tracks us down?"

To his surprise, Cosmo returned his glare with equal anger, and in a passionate voice that drowned out Amy's hurried whispers into her comlink, she proclaimed, "Because I despise the goddess, that's why! I hate her more than you could possibly know, the things I've seen her do, the things she's made me do, they'll haunt me for the rest of my life, Knuckles! And I thought, if I could just help you four, my conscious would be cleared, and –" he eyes began to sparkle with tears. "You have no idea what she's capable of! What –"

"The worst she can do is kill us, Cosmo," Amy said, snapping her comlink closed. "I should know, she did it to me."

The Seedrian gaped at her, stammering, "Then how...how are you-?"

"Sonic saved me," she said, tossing her head proudly. "By-"

Knuckles gave a loud snort of laughter that he tried to turn into a violent cough, and with an angry shriek, Amy lashed out in a slap, but he ducked out of the way, retaliating by aiming a kick at her. Cosmo watched the two fight with a slightly bemused expression on her face, thinking, _They seem to be friends, yet why are they fighting? _When Amy slapped Knuckles smartly across the cheek, she hopped forwards, bound too tightly to trust herself to walk.

"Stop, stop, stop!" she cried, her eyes bright with tears. "Please, don't fight, please..."

Both Knuckles and Amy froze, looking at her incredulously, and then the next thing she knew, they were both laughing, Knuckles clutching at his stomach and Amy collapsed onto the floor, heaving with giggles.

"Cosmo," Amy gasped, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes and forcing herself into sitting position. "We do that all the time!"

Suddenly, something dark blue streaked across the Seedrian's line of vision, and then a dark blue hedgehog was standing protectively in front of Amy, his light green eyes narrowed as they bored into Cosmo's, tensed into a half-crouch. Knuckles automatically copied him, looking about for the source of this behaviour, and Amy peered confusedly out from over the hedgehog's shoulder, looking first at his face, then at Cosmo's.

"What's up, Sonic?" she asked, stepping out from behind him. Cosmo's heart faltered at the hero's name; tales of his strength, of his determination, couldn't fail to reach even her imprisoned ears, and she gazed at the blue hedgehog in wonder, only looking away when she felt a light wind whoosh over her.

Cosmo glanced up, and saw that a fox, partly bright yellow, partly snowy white, and its two tails whirled out behind him, flying as fast as a hummingbird's wings. The fox's eyes, she saw with a jolt, were the precise bright blue of her own. All this was noted in less than a second, for the fox dropped down beside her, closing his bright eyes.

"You must be Tails," she greeted, giving the fox a tentative smile, which immediately slid off her face as Tails' eyes snapped open, displaying nothing but contempt.

"Don't get too chummy," he snapped a tone of voice that contrasted oddly with his child-like voice. "This place is brimming with dark energy," he informed Knuckles and Amy. "Dark energy we think is coming from _you." _He added, glaring at Cosmo with something remarkably like hatred.

Cosmo's eyes widened at his words; she felt as though he had slapped her in the face. "What?" she squeaked in weak protest, staring from Tails, to Knuckles' hard, uncaring face, to Amy's suddenly mistrustful one, to Sonic, who looked cold, distant, and then finally back to Tails, imploring one of them to believe her innocence. "It's not me! It's not!"

"You should believe her, Miles Prower," boomed a voice that seemed to come from all around, a voice that filled her with utmost sorrowful dread, and she shuddered involuntarily, wishing with all her heart that she would never have to hear more.

Suddenly, there was a deafening _crack _from behind her, and all five of them whirled around, she and Amy gasping with horror, to see that the flat grassy ground behind them had cracked as though savaged by a violent earthquake, and a figure had risen up from it, no bigger than Sonic, clothed in strange, swirling sapphire robes that billowed about him in the sudden powerful wind, his violent emerald hair flying about his thin, pale grey face. The newcomer had terrifying, sapphire-amethyst eyes that inspired impossible fear inside her.

Someone knocked her over, and with a scream Cosmo fell flat on her face, pressed once more into the soft earth. "Stay perfectly still," Tails ordered hiss sounded from above her, and then her bindings fell off of her, though she could still felt the ghostly pressure of them where they had cut into her skin.

She knew she would have no trouble obeying his command; she was perfectly useless in combat, and even if she wasn't, she knew that the monster that had erupted out of the ground would be able to defeat her in less time that it took to say 'Crap'.

Amy's wrapped her hands tightly around the handle of her hammer in an effort to stop them from shaking. She, Sonic and Knuckles stood in tense positions of various offence and defence, while Tails snuck around Void from behind. His sudden appearance drove every suspicion in regards to Cosmo's truthfulness from her mind, and she vowed that if she survived the coming battle, she would force the other three to listen to the Seedrian's story.

"What are you doing here, Void?" Sonic shouted, his hands curling into fists. "Shouldn't you be sobbing over Illumina's destruction?"

Despite the direness of their predicament, Amy couldn't help but feel a frightened thrill of awe course through her; no matter how desperate the situation, Sonic never failed to be cocky.

Void's thin lips curled into a snarl, and twin halos of fire erupted around his clenched fists as he hissed, "You are deluded, Mobian; Goddess Illumina can never fully die, for if that happened, Maginaryworld would cease to exist, and thus, you would not be here!"

Amy, Sonic and Knuckles all exchanged unsure looks; it was more than likely that Void was bluffing, attempting to throw off their confidence, but all of them harboured a shadow of doubt, for hadn't they suspected, all along, that Void's words were true, long before he spoke them? Hadn't Maginaryworld fallen onto the brink of chaos and destruction when Illumina had succumbed to her own darkness, which made it more than likely that in the case of the goddess' death, her world would cease to exist?

Without warning, Void unleashed an inhumane screech, and in a whirl of his robes he was gone, reappearing instantly in front of Sonic, who dashed forwards to meet him with a feral snarl. The following brawl was so fast paced that the Mobian and Maginaire appeared blurred, their limbs flying in every direction, ducking and twirling and leaping away from each other, and Knuckles, in an effort to help, roared, "_SHOVLE CLAW!" _and lunged forwards, one hand obscured by an iron grey metal glove, murder on his face, but Void threw himself out of harm's way and Knuckles nearly slammed into Sonic, who ducked at the last second-

With a wordless cry, Amy swung her hammer forwards with all her strength, aiming for Void's head, but he avoided the blow only by catching it by the head with both hands. The two of them froze for a split second, Amy gazing at Void in horror, and he returned her stare with one of smug superiority, an expression that was replaced by one of furious pain as Tails landed a roundhouse kick in the back of the Maginaire's head. Amy sashayed out of Void's range as he lunged out in a brutal punch, then she, Knuckles and Sonic all sprinted forwards in attempt to aid Tails in his furious battle with Void-

Sonic flung himself forwards, a tight ball of fury, and he slammed into Void so forcefully that Amy was sure the Maginaire would be flung backwards, but the speed of his retaliation was such that Sonic was thrown off balance. And then the two were locked together, both unleashing furious snarls that struck terror in Amy's heart. Sonic's hands were locked with Void's both pushing against their opponent with all the force they possessed, neither relenting, neither winning-

With a sudden burst of impossible strength – and probably aided by magic – Void blasted Sonic backwards through the air, and Amy screamed in both fury and terror, turning to watch Sonic's limp form fly fifty feet through the air, landing heavily on top of a hill and skidding out of sight.

She whipped back around to face Void, whose arms were wrapped tightly around his stomach, knees drawn up to his chest, and his shaking form rose high into the air, eyes clenched shut, and Amy thought inexplicably of a bomb about to explode –

And then Void's limbs flew away from his torso, snapping back into position with an ear splitting burst of noise, causing a translucent wave of energy to burst off his thin form. With a scream Amy flung her hammer vertically in front of her face, bracing herself for a violent impact that came in the form of howling, harmless winds. But as she turned her face to the side, her eyes widened in horror as she saw that the blast of energy was only mysteriously ineffective against her; Knuckles, Tails and Cosmo were all flung backwards as if being swiped through the air by a massive, invisible hand. Their writhing forms flew through the night time air, landing at fifteen foot intervals, no more animate than bundles of rags.

The howling winds quickly died down, and Amy lowered her trembling arms, staring in mute horror at the Maginaire before her. A malicious smile spread across Void's pale face, and he spread his arms wide, bobbing slightly in mid air.

"Amy Rose," he called in a voice of awful superiority. Pointing to the places where Tails, Knuckles and Cosmo were lying in huddled piles some hundred yards away, he hissed, "You are utterly helplesss; your friends are incapacitated, and unless you want them to suffer an even worse fate, you will surrender." His lips curled into a cold smile, his fists clenched. "You will return with me to the Temple of Light, where you will-"

"She's not alone!" came a defiant shout from somewhere behind her, and Amy had barely enough time to gasp before Sonic was at her side, his quills dishevelled but looking otherwise unharmed.

"GAH" Void shouted, and he lashed out in a fierce punch that caught Amy on the side of the head. With a gasp of pain Amy spiralled to the ground, her head pounding furiously, her vision blurred. Dull thumps and snarls sounded from above her, undoubtedly sounding from the battle raging between Void and Sonic.

Forcing herself to ignore the pain, Amy staggered to her feet, and a gasp of horror escaped her lips; Sonic was dangling feet from the ground, suspended by the throat by Void, whose taloned hands were wrapped tightly around it, crushing the life out of him. A broken, choking sound was coming from her hero's mouth, and a gentle trickle of blood was snaking out of the corner of it.

"_NO!" _Amy screamed, and quite abruptly, rage such as she had never known exploded inside her chest, filling her more completely than boiling water. The edges of her vision turned bloody red, and Void seemed to be highlighted by a crimson glow as she stared at him, murder in her heart –

"I AM _NOT ALONE!" _she screamed at Void, who dropped Sonic and turned to stare at her, his sapphire amethyst eyes huge, mouth trembling slightly. With a feral snarl she jumped into the air, hovering several feet off the ground, and, in some dim, unangered part of her brain, she recognized that her fur had become a soft, mysterious glowing silver, the colour of the moon that shone brightly above her.

"I'M AMY ROSE," she hurled each word at Void as though it would cause him unendurable agony. "AND I WILL DESTROY YOU!"

A thunderous crack rent the air, and at the same moment, all of her anger exploded out of her in the form of a violently pink lightning bolt that lashed out of the sky, streaking towards Void-

Time seemed to freeze, during which Amy fixed Void with a burning glare as hot as the sun, and Void stared back, looking at her with nothing but loathsome vengeance fixed upon his face. And then time returned, allowing the lightning bolt to strike the Maginaire with an ear splitting burst of sound. The terrifying creature exploded in a burst of deepest black that was interrupted by bloody red, and then both the light and Void had vanished, leaving nothing but a burning, blackened patch of grass in their wake.

A startled laugh escaped her lips, and then Amy sunk out of the air, her mind spiralling into unconsciousness.

Sonic stared mutely between the place where Void had been violently struck by lightning, and at Amy, who had slumped out of the air, still a mysterious silver colour, collapsed into a heap upon the ground. Concern overcame awed reluctance, and he rushed to his friend's side, gasping, "_Amy-!"_

But he breathed a sigh of relief as he heard her heart thumping unevenly in her chest. He forced himself away from his side and flipped open his comlink, pummelling the call button. The screen remained unresponsive blue for a second, and then it divided itself in half, Knuckles' having on section to himself, looking anticipating, and Tails and Cosmo were crammed into the other, both of their identical eyes huge with fear, and by the looks of it they were both running.

"What's going on?" the three of them demanded in unison, and then just Knuckles, "Where's Void?"

Wordlessly, Sonic directed his comlink towards the smouldering patch of grass that Void had just recently vacated. Knuckles let out a low whistle, Cosmo gasped in shock and Tails, in a voice of hushed awe, whispered, "Did _you _do that, Sonic?"

"Nope," Sonic said, pointing the device back at himself. "It was all Amy."

"_Amy _did that?" exclaimed Knuckles, and the girl in question would have been furious at the incredulity in his voice.

Sonic opened his mouth to respond, but then two things happened at once; the bright silver moon slipped out of the cover of a thin cloud that had been shrouding its soft light, and Amy let out a startled cry from behind him.

Sonic whirled around, snapping his comlink shut, oblivious to his friends' shouted questions, and his heart skipped a beat. Amy had risen into the air, and by her bewildered expression he could tell she had not meant to do so. Her faint silver glow was becoming more and more pronounced, and her molten silver eyes locked onto his as she reached one hand out to him and cried, "SONIC, GET ME DOWN!"

Sonic leapt into the air, catching a hold of her gloved hand, and the moment he did so, there was a blinding flash of rosy pink light, which dispersed almost instantly, and when it did, they were no longer standing in the Nature Zone clearing; they were hovering hundreds of feet in the air, inside what appeared to be an ancient cylindrical stone temple. There was no ceiling, for it seemed to open up to the starry sky hanging above them, a vast, velvet black expanse of strangely glowing constellations. A huge, crystal shaped gem was hanging in the air before them, the size of both he and Amy put together. Sonic knew that he had seen it somewhere before, but no matter how much he racked his brain, he could not remember ever seeing the dimly glowing, amber jewel before them. He glanced at Amy, whose hand was still clutching his, and he saw that she had returned to her usual light pink. The only lingering change was that he eyes retained their dark, glowing silver hue, and when she saw that he was staring at her, she threw him a frantic glance and jabbed a finger at the ground below them.

Sonic looked down, and barely managed to stifle a gasp of surprise; far below him, hovering above the grey stone floor, was none other than their old ally, Lumina Flowlight, and, to his incredulous horror, Void. Even from this height, he could tell that the latter was slumped slightly, his arms wrapped around his stomach.

"What happened?" Lumina demanded, though her voice was far from harsh; she seized Void's wrists and shook him slightly, the terror in her voice raising it to a hysterical pitch. "Please, Void, answer m-"

"I failed," Void whispered, and Sonic and Amy leaned forwards to catch the rest of what he was saying, so soft was his voice. "I did not capture Amy Rose, and to make matters worse, she had now discovered her powers."

_Powers? _The word rang through Sonic's mind like alarm bells, and he exchanged an awed look with Amy, whose eyes were huge, her hand shaking slightly in his. They were so absorbed in each other's confusion that they almost missed the Lumina's response.

"It doesn't matter," she crooned, and it was evident to both of them that she did not believe her words. "We'll be able to make another plan, we have time, it doesn't matter-"

"Doesn't matter?" Void let loose a soft, hollow laugh that was the opposite of mirth. "On the contrary, Lumina, it matters very much. Don't you see, -?"

But exactly what Lumina didn't see, they never found out, for the world was swallowed in rosy light again, obscuring Void, Lumina, the strange glowing gem and the ancient temple, replacing it with the night time clearing of Nature Zone. For a split second, Sonic and Amy hung in mid air, their expressions blank with surprise, and then they fell heavily to the ground.

"Are you okay?" Tails demanded, and with a jump Sonic saw that the fox, Cosmo and Knuckles were standing around them, all of them looking just as shocked as he felt. Tails pulled Amy to her feet, and then Sonic to his, and in an almost accusatory voice he began to interrogate Amy.

"What happened? Where did you guys go just now? Is Void-"

"Hang on, Tail," Knuckles interrupted, mercifully intervening, for Tails was wearing a manic expression on his face, his nose inches from Amy's. Who was leaning back slightly, looking harassed. "Let 'em breath!"

Tails seemed to come to himself; shaking his head apologetically, he retreated several steps, standing at Cosmo's side. Wordlessly, the two of them and Knuckles sank onto the ground, gazing expectantly up at Sonic, though awed looks were frequently cast towards Amy.

"We-ll..." Sonic said, making the word into two syllables as he sank onto the ground, facing the three of them. Amy mirrored this, huddling closer to him than strictly comfortable. Leaning away slightly, Sonic launched into an explanation of how Amy had transformed silver and unleashed a violently pink lightning bolt upon Void, at how she had fainted afterwards and then floated into the air, teleporting the two of them to-

"The Temple of Light!" Amy exclaimed suddenly, smacking herself on the forehead. "Of course!"

Sonic could have kicked himself; the answer was obvious, now that he thought about it. "_Yes!" _he hissed, staring at Amy, who had long since returned to complete normality. They had journeyed to the mysterious stone structure on their last visit to the Land of Dreams, which was the home of the Precious Stone, the gem that they had pieced back together after Void had shattered it and, Sonic realized, the glowing stone that had been hovering before them on their brief return.

"Wasn't it white before?" he murmured to himself, and everyone looked at him questioningly. Giving himself a little shake, Sonic looked up and opened his mouth to speak, but Amy beat him to it.

"I don't really know why," she began, a slight hesitation in her voice. "But somehow, I teleported us to the Temple of Light." A bitter smile formed on her face as she continued. "It looks like our friend Void isn't dead after all, and Lumina seems like she's on his side this time."

"_What?" _yelled Tails and Knuckles, both leaping to their feet in indignation. Cosmo, however, did not look at all upset or surprised by the statement, nor hand she during their entire retell of their encounter with Void or the discovery of Amy's powers. Something else was written upon her face, an emotion Sonic did not quite understand, but before he could identify it, the Seedrian had wiped it from her face.

"Yeah," Sonic said, pushing the mystery of Cosmo's expression from his mind. "It's gonna be a hell of a lot harder to get around Maginaryworld without Lumina's help."

"No," Amy said, and a bright smile lit her face as she turned to beam at him. "We won't need her this time! I can just teleport us around!"

"But will you be able to?" Cosmo murmured, and everyone turned to look at the Seedrian, whose face, save for her bright blue eyes, was hidden in shadow. "You claim to have no control over these abilities. How will you be able to use them under immense pressure?"

Amy stared at the Seedrian with an expression on her face that made Sonic wonder if she had not just been slapped by someone invisible. Then, with a toss of her head, she retorted, "Well, last time I checked, _I'm _the only one who's ever managed to teleport!" Sonic could practically see the rage boiling up inside Amy as she glared at Cosmo, saying fiercely, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you really_ are _a spy for Illumina!"

Cosmo leapt to her feet, colour flooding her pale cheeks, her mouth opened in fury, and Amy mirrored the Seedrian, making to draw her hammer, but both Sonic and Tails leapt to their feet and stepped in front of the girl closest to them, saying, "Okay, that's enough!"

Amy gave an angry snarl then whirled around, storming away from him and slamming herself onto the ground some twenty feet away. Cosmo, her cheeks still blazing red, whirled around and marched away from Tails with her head held high in the air.

Knuckles rolled his eyes at Sonic and Tails. "Women," he muttered, but so quietly that only the three of them could hear. Sonic grinned appreciatively at Knuckles, then turned to Tails, asking, "So, you still got that Chaos Emerald?"

The smile that had been playing about the fox's lips instantly slid off of his face, replaced by a look of wide –eyed. He groped fruitlessly at his fur as if hoping for the ruby head gem to pop out of nowhere. "Oh no," he whispered in mortification. "I must have dr-dropped it...when we were fighting Void!"

Knuckles' dark purple eyes seemed to have been replaced with flames. "You _lost _the Chaos Emerald?" he shouted, his fists clenching, practically steaming with rage. Both Amy and Cosmo cast the three of them enquiring looks, both too far away to have heard what the echidna was bellowing.

Sonic leapt in front of Tails, tensed to throw Knuckles back, but as he did so, he remembered how Void had exploded in a burst of onyx light, punctuated strangely by a streak of ruby red-

"Oh no," he whispered, his stomach dropping. "There's _no _way...he can't..." but he knew that what he suspected was true, and he met Knuckles' confused stare with a look of weak horror. "Void...he's got the Chaos Emerald. That's how he got back to the Temple of Light...he musta used Chaos Control, just like I did."

Tails gave a weak, shuddering moan from behind him, and Sonic felt the fox sink to his feet. Knuckles whole body was quivering, his bright red fur seeming to deepen to maroon as he filled with rage, tensing to explode, but Sonic, forcing himself to repress his anger with Tails, said in a low, threatening voice, "Look, Knuckles, man, just let it go, he didn't drop it on purpose, it's not like any of us coulda kept track of that thing while Void was attacking us."

Knuckles shrugged, then turned on his wheel and stormed away, muttering inaudibly to himself, though Sonic thought he could have guessed the words if he had to. Instead, he turned to Tails, who was kneeling before him, gazing up at him with a kind of pleading desperation, but Sonic waved his hand through the air as if to dismiss the matter. "Don't worry about it," he muttered, and though his words were a wholehearted lie, he worked hard to conceal in. "There's six more of them, Tails, and none of those damn Maginaires have got comlinks like us..."

Tails nodded dejectedly, his blue eyes sparkling with ashamed tears, and he picked himself up off the ground and staggered off in Cosmo's general direction. Sonic watched him go, feeling mixed frustration and sympathy, then turned and wandered off, no particular destination in his mind, his head full of the night's mysterious events.

He couldn't help but think that somehow, Amy's newfound abilities were linked to those he had accidentally unearthed back on Mobius; neither of them had any idea of what they were doing when they stumbled across them, nor did they understand why it had happened or, indeed, where they had come from. Sonic only remembered being maddened with rage at Amy's death before the Chaos Emeralds had inexplicably appeared around him, but he knew that if a friend had to die for him to unleash his abilities, he would rather he never access them again.

And Void, who had somehow survived Amy's attack upon him, knew that she possessed those strange abilities, before even she had uncovered them. Did he know about Sonic's, too? He wasn't about to rule out that possibility, and knew that the sooner they collected the rest of the Chaos Emeralds, the better.

Then there was Cosmo, who had appeared out of nowhere, claiming to have escaped Illumina's employ after three long years. But was it just a coincidence that she had broken free after they arrived in Maginaryworld? And what about the fact that she had been lurking in the very same part of the jungle Knuckles and Amy were searching? Was she trustworthy? He had a faint suspicion that the mysterious Seedrian, like Void, also knew about his and Amy's powers before the two of them had discovered them, and possibly understood why they had them.

His mind still a chaotic blitz of suspicions, worries and answerless questions, Sonic flopped onto the grass and thank into a mercifully dreamless sleep.

But the oblivion was short lived; as abruptly as if someone had screamed in his ear, Sonic sat bolt upright, his eyes huge, chest heaving as he stared about for the cause of his awakening. The moon was low in the western sky, implying that dawn was not far off, but the clearing around him was deserted, with no signs of Tails, Knuckles, Amy or Cosmo-

_Oh no, _he thought, and his heart skipped a beat, his breath catching in his throat. _Where is everyone?_

With a huff of exertion, Sonic curled into a tight ball and blasted himself through the air, streaking over hills and leaping over boulders, searching for the Mobians that may or may not still be sleeping close by...

But his anxiety was short lived; he found Tails and Cosmo lying close together, not far from the place he recognized as the spot where he and Amy had returned from the Temple of Light. One of Tails' hands was outstretched towards the Seedrian, who was facing him, her face, which bore a thousand years worth of pain that was no one deserved, now looked far less troubled.

_Could he like her? _Sonic thought idly, as he stared at the pair lying sprawled before him. He was unable to keep from letting out a soft laugh as he thought of how he and Amy teased the mechanic about Cream, the young rabbit who had, on occasion, taken part in their adventures, being obsessed with him.

But his laughter was quickly subdued as he remembered that half their party was still unaccounted for; Sonic was about to launch himself forwards once more when he spotted Knuckles, lying sprawled some thirty feet away, his form heaving with deep, snoring breaths. Sonic took a couple steps forwards, and as he did so, Knuckles stuttered in one of his snores, muttering, "No...get away..."

Not having to look far as to what the echidna could be dreaming about, Sonic set out once more, sprinting towards the place he thought Amy had deposited herself after her brief argument with Cosmo. But, to his dismay, she was nowhere to be found. Sonic revolved slowly on the spot, his heart hammering inside his chest. Hadn't she been lying next to the strangely shaped boulder that was now on his left? He distinctly remembered her being opposite Cosmo, close to the jungle-

In desperation, Sonic launched himself into the thick vegetation, ducking and leaping and dodging around the maze of trees that were set before him like an obstacle course, twice nearly avoiding being choked by low-lying vines, ducking at the last second, unable to get past the horrific possibility that Void had kidnapped her while he had flourished in unconsciousness...

But Amy, as it turned out, had merely wanted to take a bath; he found her curled against a tree not far in to the jungle, her pink fur damp with water, dress mysteriously rip-free. Sonic's chest seemed to expand with relief as he looked upon her sleeping form, a moonbeam trained upon her like a spotlight, bathing her in a silvery glow that, not long ago, her fur had been the colour of...

Having been shocked into alertness by the possibility that his friends had been captured under his sleeping nose and no longer tired enough to sleep, Sonic, without really thinking about what he was doing, ran to the tree Amy was curled against and easily scaled its rough surface, depositing himself on a branch that was high enough to give him a view of the night time clearing that Tails, Knuckles and Cosmo were sleeping in, but low enough that he could still see Amy.

A contented sigh went through him as Sonic leaned back against the trunk, his arms folded behind his head, but, uncharacteristically, he lost his perch upon the branch and, with a startled, "WOAH!" tumbled noisily back to the ground, bringing with him a mass of leaves, twigs and vines and causing a battalion of annoyed birds to depart their perch, twittering noisily.

Cursing his luck, Sonic managed to land unsteadily on his feet beside Amy, who was being bombardered with jungle debris. A sly smile spread across his face as he slipped behind the thick trunk she was laying against, just as Amy, with a bewildered shriek, sat bolt upright, still as a dog on a fox' scent.

Peering craftily out at Amy, he saw that she had leapt to her feet, brushing leaves and twigs from her hair while simultaneously drawing her hammer. "Hello?" she called out, in a wary, trembling voice, turning slowly on the spot and gazing about for the offender that was in fact, right behind her.

Deciding that whoever she was dealing with was not stupid enough to call back, Amy pressed her back against the trunk she had so recently been sleeping against, whipping open her comlink and tapping frantically upon her comlink.

Sonic, realizing that she might have been – and probably was – attempting to contact him for help, decided that it was time to reveal himself, consenting that his prank was rather lame anyhow. Slipping silently out to stand beside Amy, who was too intent upon her typing to notice his appearance, he seized her wrists and whispered, "Boo!"

Amy let out an ear splitting scream and whirled around to face him, trembling from head to foot as she held her hammer vertically in front of her face, her dark green eyes only losing their terrified look when they had looked his form up and down.

"Sonic!" she gasped, her chest heaving and eyes narrowed slightly as she stared at him. "D-don't scare me l-like that!"

Sonic winked playfully at her. "Aww, Rosie –" he said, and Amy blushed at the nickname he had used for her when she'd been younger. "I was just –"

But Amy suddenly let out a soft giggle, one hand covering her mouth as she stared at him. "What?" Sonic asked, and it was his turn to narrow his eyes.

"You weren't..." Amy giggled still more loudly, but in a muffled voice she choked out, "Watching me sleep, were you?"

Sonic felt his eyes widen, caught unawares by the astuteness of her accusation, but he immediately lowered his eyebrows and attempted to hitch an innocent expression on his face, but Amy had seen the look on his face, and giggled even louder.

More to shut her up than anything else, Sonic grinned, his eyes sparkling mischievously, and said, "If you think this is funny, just wait 'til you see what Tails and Cosmo are doing."

Amy, as he had hoped, stopped laughing, and her eyes glinted maliciously as she said, "Lead me to them!"

Sonic winked at her, then, seizing Amy's hand, half-carried, half-dragged her out of the jungle, running back towards the place where Tails, Knuckles and Cosmo were lying. He released her hand as they came across Knuckles, who was curled into a tight ball, muttering in his sleep. He gave a low, grunting snore, and then, in a surprisingly loud voice, called out, "Rouge, no, don't go!"

Amy gave a snort of laughter and collapsed onto the ground, rocking back and forth, her form heaving with laughter. Infected by her gasps of mirth, Sonic started to laugh, though he kept it quieter than Amy. Satisfied that she had been distracted from his blunder for the time being, Sonic started towards the place where Cosmo and Tails were lying, freezing when he realized that they had vanished, then relaxing when he heard their voices sounding from the cover of the other side of a nearby hill.

He silently padded forwards, his head tilted towards the sound of their voices, straining to catch their words.

"I...I can't believe Illumina imprisoned you, Cosmo," Tails was saying in a hushed voice. "Well, no, I guess I can, after what she did to us back on Mobius, but when we met her before, she seemed sane, at least. What the hell could make her turn evil?"

Cosmo allowed a pondering silence to fall over them, and as Sonic came over the top of the hill, he sensed that the Seedrian was pondering, not the possibility for Illumina's change of heart, but whether or not to answer the question.

"What made you guys wake up?" Sonic asked, and Cosmo gave a cry of surprise, while Tails swore in alarm, both of them whipping their heads around to face him, their identical eyes wide with horror. Like Amy, they relaxed when they saw who it was, and Cosmo opened her mouth to greet him, but Sonic shook his head.

"Don't let me interrupt your story," Sonic said, stepping around them and seating himself opposite Tails and Cosmo, attempting to force the mysterious girl to answer Tails' question. "I just want to listen."

Cosmo stared at him for a moment, then smiled slightly. "Alright," she breathed, closing her eyes and turning her face up to the starry sky. "I owe the four of you answers; I know that my appearance is a cause for alarm and suspicion, but I assure you, there's no need for them." She opened her eyes and stared at Sonic imploringly, then, taking a deep breath, launched into her tale.

"I come from a distant planet, one that lies in ruins at the other end of your galaxy. It was my home, for seven years, the place where the ancient Seedrian clan had settled, making it their business to unravel the mysteries of time and space.

"We were well known story tellers in our neighbourhood of planets, often entertaining guests with fictuous legends of wealth and power. But there was one legend, one that we kept a secret from all but the most influential guests in the universe, one that we knew was completely true. Its title translates roughly into 'The Sun and the Moon' and is tells of a prophecy of two beings, who possess the power of those two celestial giants, and when one unites their power, they become invincible, immortal."

Sonic's heart spluttered to a stop, and then burst into an almost audible, chaotic pounding, throwing itself desperately against his chest. He thought of how he had turned molten gold when the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds had swarmed into him, at how Amy had turned a soft, mysterious silver just before she attacked Void. He sensed that he was about to get the answers to the seemingly impossible questions that had filled his mind just before he fell asleep, and Cosmo's words seemed to have been magnified to ten times their original volume as she continued with her story.

"I am ashamed to admit that my clan is at fault for Illumina's startling change of heart," Cosmo murmured, her bright eyes reflecting the stars she gazed up at, unable to meet his or Tails' gaze. "Three years ago, Illumina decided to visit our planet, and you can imagine how much of an honour we thought it was. The goddess of Maginaryworld, visiting our planet! It was a cause for joyous celebration, and banquets and entertainment was planned, for her enjoyment. Of course, we felt that Illumina, being such a well respected ruler, deserved to hear the legend that we guarded so carefully, selecting only very few to pass the knowledge on to.

"The council members agreed to suggestion that we pass the knowledge on to Illumina, all but my mother, Earthia," a shadow seemed to pass over the Seedrian's face, and her bright eyes burned with fury as she looked between Sonic and Tails. "She rightly suspected that Illumina could not be trusted with such knowledge, and she pled with the others not to tell it to her. They laughed in her face, rejecting such a possibility. 'She has no use for immortality,' they said. 'She is a goddess of a dream world, why would she desire such a thing?' How wrong they were...they never realized that immortality was, in fact, something Illumina desired very much...

"Now, at the time, I was the youngest member of my clan, and, as was tradition, the youngest Seedrian told the legend of immortality. I considered it an honour," Cosmo's tone was unbearably bitter and angry tears spilled down her cheeks. "To be able to impress the goddess with this bit of Seedrian knowledge. If only I knew the consequences of what I was about to tell the goddess back then..." she stared hard at the ground in front of her, then, in a low voice, said, "At the last minute, my mother convinced me to alter the tale, and to tell no one of the change, lest I lose the honour of telling the legend. I was young, I did not understand how drastic the change was, but I do now. My mother foresaw that Illumina would become obsessed with immortality, with finding the ones who would either destroy or immortalize her, and if the true legend ever reached her ears, she would have probably destroyed the entire universe out of fear for her life."

"Does that mean that the prophecy is about Illumina?" someone asked from the top of the hill. With gasps of surprise, Tails and Cosmo whirled around, and Sonic's head jerked up almost painfully fast, his body tensing for a fight, but, to his relief, he saw that it was only Knuckles and Amy.

"No," Cosmo answered, recovering from the shock of their appearence, speaking in a slow, mournful voice, as if she wished with all her heart that she was not about to say the thing upon her lips. "But it reffers to both you and Sonic. And Illumina believes that to fulfill it, both of you must die."


	10. The Seedrian's Tale

A shocked silence consumed the clearing, stifling the sounds of sleepy hoots and the rumbling calls of slumbering animals. Tails and Knuckles' faces were identical death masks, their heads turning slowly between Sonic and Amy, as if watching some slow motion tennis match that would end in either participant's demise. The Seedrian was gazing intently between the four of them, as if trying to predict when they would break the silence.

Sonic turned to stare at Amy in horror, Cosmo's words ringing through his ears, repeating over and over as if they were some sort of recording. Amy's dark green eyes were huge with fear, and her mouth was silently framing the words the Seedrian had spoken.

_Illumina thinks that both of you must die for the prophecy to be complete._

"But," Cosmo said, her wry voice shattering the hollow silence that had fallen upon them. "What the goddess believes is, in fact, untrue; I told you of how my mother persuaded me to alter the legend, and this is that alteration. All was done for the greater good, to ensure that Illumina would not destroy the entire universe out of fear for her life if she took the revelation the wrong way."

Sonic exchanged frantic looks with Amy, Tails and Knuckles, his heart still pounding painfully inside his chest; Cosmo had neither confirmed nor denied that he and Amy were condemned to die at Illumina's hand, and he wrenched his mouth open to speak, but the Seedrian cut across him.

"Illumina arrived on our planet, and was greeted with deepest respect. On the eve of after her arrival, a great feast was held in her honour, during which she told us of how the four of you," Cosmo's bright eyes shifted between each, sparkling with a sort of suppressed awe. "- had saved her world from destruction. And then, it was my turn; I told her of the legend of the sun and the moon, altering it obediently, as my mother had bid me to. The others were confused, for none had been told of the planned change and all knew the true storey, but mercifully did not interrupt. Illumina, however, noticed nothing. Her eyes did not leave mine the whole time," Cosmo reminisced bitterly, her hands contracting spastically, and Tails reached out and put a steadying hand on her shoulder. Cosmo took a deep, shuddering breath, and then continued her tale with closed eyes.

"She listened intently to my words the entire time, and then, when I had finished, she stood up and swept from the room, without a word, retreating into her chambers.

"We were all confused, scared; had we offended her with our tale? Was she merely unimpressed, thinking that she deserved to hear a legend of greater mystique? For three days, silence hung over our planet like an unshakable fog, and Illumina did not emerge from her chambers. I know now what she was doing in there; becoming obsessed with immortality, planning out what she would do to root out those who the legend concerned.

"On her fourth day of seclusion, she called me into her room," the Seedrian's closed eyes tightened, and despite this, two pristine tears rolled out onto her cheeks. When she spoke, it was in a tight, cracked voice shaking with sorrow. "I came to her, completely bewildered, wondering if she was about to apologize for her silence. But to my surprise, she locked me inside a broom cupboard, sealing the door and plunging me into total blackness. No matter how loud I screamed, no matter how hard I tried to escape, I could not, and no one came to rescue me.

"I could still hear what was going on outside, however; Illumina had at last emerged from her room, to where my entire clan was lurking nervously. No one – albeit my mother, perhaps – suspected my absence to be linked to her sudden appearance. She sent out a probe, a wave of inexplicably potent magical energy that went through every being present, including myself. As I now know, she was attempting to find out if any of us were the danger, or saviour, the legend told of.

"But when the probe came back negative, Illumina slaughtered them, the men, women and children who had failed to meet her expectations. The young and the old, the sick and the healthy, all of their lives ending violently in one being's desperation for power."

Silence fell upon them once more; Sonic felt like he was about to throw up, wishing he had never heard the tale, that he could wipe it from his mid. Amy was staring at Cosmo with huge eyes that shone with tears, her hands clamped over her mouth. Tails was gazing at the girl beside him, transfixed with horror, his mouth slightly open, and Knuckles looked slightly nauseous. Cosmo's thin frame was trembling violently, and when she spoke, it was in the faintest whisper.

"Illumina returned, releasing me from my prison, and dragged me through time and space, teleporting us to Maginaryworld, to the Temple of Light. She left me then, warning me not to touch the strange, beautiful gem that hovered high above us, the only light source in the towering cylindrical structure. I had no desire to do such a thing, for it terrified me as much as it intrigued me, and I was already on the verge of a hysterical breakdown, weak with grievance at the death of my clan members.

"Then a Maginaire melted out of the stone, one that cast off an aura of gentle patience and remorse that Illumina so clearly lacked. Lumina Flowlight. " Sonic's eyes narrowed at the Maginaire's name, and both regret and anger coursed through him; their old ally, one he had been hoping to call to aid on their quest for the rest Chaos Emeralds, had crossed over to the side of evil, but he did not interrupt Cosmo.

"She was my caregiver for the three years I spent as Illumina's prisoner, and I would have been quite happy to stay there with her, for she helped heal my raw heart, but of course, Illumina had not spared my life just to relocate me in her domain.

"We travelled all over the galaxy to distant planets, and she forced me to tell the inhabitants of the legend of the sun and the moon. Illumina would then ask the inhabitants if any of them possessed such abilities, or if they knew of anyone with them. Always, the answer was no, and Illumina would probe them anyways. When they came back negative, as they did every time, she would mercilessly slaughter each and every one of them, for hearing about those who would make her immortal, for suspecting her of being corrupt...

"For years, it continued like this, I being the sole witness to the slaughter of thousands. If I ever tried to refuse to accompany her somewhere, she would threaten my life, and always, in the end, I would relent. If I could go back in time," Cosmo's bright eyes opened a crack, and they were swimming with tears. "I would have begged her to take my life, for it was not worth preserving when thousands of others lost theirs to her cause..."

"But," Sonic said, struggling to keep the revulsion from his voice, for he had seen a flaw in Illumina's logic. "Why _did _Illumina leave you alive? Not that I'm complaining, not at all," he added hastily, raising his palms up as Tails, Amy, and Knuckles threw him horrified looks, and Cosmo flinched as though he had electrocuted her. "But couldn't she have just memorized the legend and told it herself?"

"Ah," Cosmo murmured wryly, and the bitterness in her smile was not directed at him. "You're very perceptive, Sonic; but, as Illumina found out the hard way, there's a reason that we guarded the legend of immortality with our lives, telling only those we were nearly certain would merely be amused by it of what it contained. If anyone but a Seedrian tried to tell the tale, they would experience mortal agony, followed by a painstakingly slow death. I'm sure she somehow found out about the taboo during her recluse, for why else would she have left me alive?"

Sonic pondered her words thoughtfully, while Cosmo continued her tale, her voice so unbearably pained that Amy, who had long since sat down on Cosmo's other side, automatically reached out and grasped her arm comfortingly, while Tails rubbed the Seedrian's back soothingly.

"But about a week ago, something happened that had never occurred in my entire time of imprisonment; a visitor arrived at the Temple of Light. I never laid eyes upon the newcomer, but his arrival greatly excited Illumina; Lumina was called away from my side, and when she returned, there was something different about her. She seemed to be in pain, she wasn't in her right mind, and she conjured a portal for me to jump through, telling me it would transport me to safety, and that, if I ever happened to lay eyes upon those known as Sonic the Hedgehog and Amy Rose, to warn them of the great danger that was upon them, to tell them everything Illumina had been up to." Cosmo's vast eyes shone with unrestrained tears, and, through trembling lips, she whispered, "But Lumina has gone over to the other side now, hasn't she? She's joined forces with Void and Illumina and is working to capture the five of us?"

Sonic nodded wordlessly, his eyes fixed upon the girl before him, who had hidden her face behind her hands and was sobbing silently. Abruptly, overpowering sympathy rose up inside of him, banishing every doubt as to Cosmo's trustfulness; her suffering was more than enough to last more than a thousand years, a suffering no being should ever have to endure, mortal or entity. He knew that what she had told them was absolutely true and, for the moment, every thought of his and Amy's unknown fates were driven from his mind. He looked up at Tails, whose eyes were sparkling with the same conviction her knew was reflected in his own; at Amy, who looked close to tears herself, and at Knuckles, whose normally unmoved demeanour had vanished in favour of an expression of pity.

"We believe you," the four of them said, their sure voices ringing throughout the clearing. Cosmo looked at them from between her fingers, her blue eyes wide with shock.

"B-but how can y-you?" she stammered, lowering her hands in favour of twisting them into tight knots. "A-after all I-I've done, placing m-my life before thousands of o-others – "

"What's done can't be undone," Amy spoke suddenly, her hand on Cosmo's shaking shoulder. "And by trying to help us, your redeeming yourself." She paused, and a silence fell upon them, during which the two girls stared at each other, both looking ashamed and apologetic. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you, Cosmo," Amy murmured, her eyes wide with honesty. Cosmo looked at her, and then her face split into a tremulous, watery smile.

Quite abruptly, the night time sky became a bright mix of yellow, orange and pink, and all of them turned to stare in wonder at the rising sun, shining with overwhelming brightness, bathing Nature Zone in purest gold. As Sonic watched the great golden orb rise higher up into the sky, he was reminded of himself when he had somehow summoned the seven Chaos Emeralds, of how powerful his temporary transformation had made him feel. And then he thought of Amy, of how she had transformed into a moon – like silver, of how she had attacked Void with incredible power...

"The sun and the moon," he muttered, and the words fell strangely upon his tongue. His speaking seemed to break the spellbound silence that had fallen over them, and Cosmo flinched, as though he had shouted the words at her.

"Yes," she murmured uncomfortably, getting slowly to her feet, one hand clasped over the large jewel affixed upon the front of her dress. "I can sense that the legend of immortality is the most important thing to your survival. Very well..."

Tails, Knuckles and Amy all jumped to their feet, and the four Mobians stood in a line before the Seedrian, their eyes all fixed upon her. Cosmo looked directly at Sonic as she explained, "The downfall, the one who is the greatest threat to Illumina, holds the power of the sun. Tails told me of your transformation back in your own world, and the golden glow defines it perfectly.

"The downfall's energy comes from seven objects of ultimate power, seven objects whose energy will never run out. I take it that you already know what they are." At this, Sonic, Amy, Tails and Knuckles all exchanged significant looks, but then their eyes snapped back onto the Seedrian as she continued to speak.

"Illumina will, undoubtedly, be trying to kill you the hardest, Sonic," she told him, with an unflinching air that Amy differed from completely. "As your power rivals her own; the downfall possesses the ability to create portals that will teleport those who enter it to the place most heavily influenced by the particles in the air-" Tails' expression could not have been any more smug "- as well as having temporary invincibility and almost infinite energy supplies. They also possess enough power to wipe out all the life within a hundred miles of the place they are standing, and this, undoubtedly, is the reason Illumina covets the sun's power so much. With the power of absolute destruction on her side, no one who opposes her will be able to defeat her."

Tails, Amy and Knuckles all turned to stare at Sonic, their faces displaying nothing but awe; he himself had never felt a more contrasting emotion. He was disgusted, sickened at the idea of anyone possessing enough power to demolish massive expanses of land, no matter how pure – hearted they were. And it was his disgust that drove him towards vowing to keep his power out of Illumina's grasp at all costs, for the idea of a power – hungry goddess in possession of the thing she wanted most was intolerable, illogical, a frightening possibility that he would do all in his power to prevent.

"Amy," Cosmo said, her voice growing stronger as she turned to stare unblinkingly at Amy, who shrank back as if fearing what she was about to hear. "You, unfortunately, will be just as much hunted down as Sonic, perhaps more. Your abilities leave no doubt in my mind that you have been marked as the sacrifice.

"The sacrifice's power comes from their incredible ability to love, and their power is accessed when the one they care about most is in danger." Knuckles, despite the solemn severity of Cosmo's words, let out a loud snort of laughter, one that quickly died down as Sonic and Tails threw him incredulously disgusted looks. Cosmo's bright eyes flickered towards Knuckles before locking back onto Amy. "Your power will enable you to teleport to the place you want to be most, heal major injuries, create incredibly strong force fields and strengthen your current abilities.

"Illumina will comb Maginaryworld in search of you, Amy, for she believes that sacrificing your life in her name will allow her to claim your power, power that will launch her to the brink of invincibility, as powerful as possible without still being mortal. If she claims your power, I am afraid," her eyes shifted to gaze sorrowfully into Sonic's bewildered ones. "- that if that happens, not even the downfall's power will be able to compete with hers."

Amy stood frozen for a moment, staring at Cosmo with huge eyes, and then, she gave a tight, jerking little nod, swaying slightly on the spot, and then her eyes rolled up into her head and she fell backwards, limp as a doll. Sonic dashed forwards and caught her before she could hit the ground, laying her with extreme care upon the grass. Tails rushed forwards and grabbed her wrist, and his anxious expression relaxed somewhat as he muttered, "It's okay, she's got a pulse. She just fainted."

Sonic could not bring himself to breathe a sigh of relief; his heart was drumming a tattoo against his ribs, and his mind was a chaotic tornado of startled revelations. According to Cosmo, his newly revealed power played an incredibly significant role in defeating Illumina, power the goddess revered so much that it was second only to Amy's, whose power was such that Illumina would not rest until her life had been extinguished.

_That will never happen, _Sonic thought maliciously, and he shuddered with a sudden explosion of rage. _Illumina will never touch Amy ever again. The power of the moon can never fall into her hands. I'll sooner die than let that happen._

Though he meant every word of this second vow, he was startled and confused at how angry he was when he made it. Wrestling with this sudden madness, he struggled to come to his senses, and with a little shake of his head he caught the last of Tails' sentence.

"...taken the red Chaos Emerald to Illumina, eventually she's going to figure out that the Chaos Emeralds are the seven objects of incredible power," the gloom in Tails' voice seemed to be infecting Knuckles in Cosmo like some hope – sapping parasitic disease, one that Sonic had long – since become immune to.

"It doesn't matter," he said abruptly, his voice strong, forceful, and everyone conscious jumped and looked at him. Sonic stepped away from Amy, the fearful pounding in his heart now transforming into a steadying, adrenaline – pumping beat. He looked each of his friends in the eye, before launching into speech, pacing back and forth.

"It doesn't matter if Illumina figures out about the Chaos Emeralds," he told them in a rallying voice. "Eggman's known about them for most of our lives and we've kept them from him for as long as we can remember. Illumina's no different from him. There's five of us and one of her, and knowing Maginaryworld like the back of her hand isn't going to help her beat us to them!"

Cosmo's unsure face lit up into a slow, hopeful smile, while Tails' eyes lost their hopeless look as he beamed at Sonic. Knuckles, in a rare gesture of approval, nodded his head, his mouth curving into an expectant smile. Sonic stopped pacing, smiling cockily at the effect he had produced. "Thanks to Tails, we know that there's one more Chaos Emerald in Nature Zone, which shouldn't be too difficult to find. Then we can figure out how to move on to the next world, and we'll be on our way. All we need to do now is..." his ears wilting slightly, he gestured to the unconscious Amy, who was still crumpled upon the ground.

"I know," Cosmo exclaimed suddenly, and everyone looked at her in surprise. "Three of us can start searching for the Chaos Emerald while one of us stays here to wait for Amy to wake up; that way, we won't all waste time sitting around, but at the same time we won't be abandoning her."

"Smart," Tails conceded, after a second's hesitation. Cosmo smiled at him, then asked brightly, "Who wants to do it?"

Sonic and Knuckles froze in mid high five, and Tails, who had been in the act of leaping into the air, froze, his two tails spinning wildly out behind him as they worked to keep him suspended in mid air. All three of them cast off shifty, uncomfortable auras, for none of them had the strong desire to be left stationary while the others went out in search of the Chaos Emerald. And, if Sonic was honest with himself, he did not really covet the prospect of spending the say combing Nature Zone with Amy at his side, especially not after they had discovered that her powers were fuelled by love for him.

Cosmo looked between the three of them, looking half disappointed, half resentful, then, blushing slightly, she conceded. "I'll stay behind," she murmured softly, and Sonic cast her a grateful look before finishing his high five with Knuckles.

"Thanks, Cosmo," Tails said fervently, leaping up into the air and flying high up into the now pale blue sky, rapidly becoming no more distinct than a tiny black speck. Knuckles bumped his fist against the Seedrian's shoulder in appreciation before tearing over a nearby hill and sprinting out of sight, while Sonic lingered, one foot suspended in mid air.

"When Amy wakes up," Sonic said after a slight hesitation. "Tell her to contact us on her comlink; that way, we can figure out where to search."

Cosmo smiled at him, showing that he understood, and with a wink, Sonic sped away from her, his quills blowing in the fierce wind induced with speed, revering the roar in his ears, the smell of open air, the freedom running induced, for her knew that as long as he was on the move, nothing could catch him.

For the moment, he felt as invincible as the golden sun that shone brightly above him.

Cosmo stared at the streak of dark blue that was Sonic, tearing over hill after hill until he ran out of sight. She couldn't help but marvel at his speed, for she knew that it was unparalleled by anyone in the universe.

_I can't think of anyone better suited to be Illumina's downfall, _she thought, and the warm glow of hope seemed to expand inside her chest as she considered the prospect of the goddess' destruction.

For she knew that power such as the downfall's was enough to go to anyone's head, and the Seedrian's had long suspected that once the one who was blessed with the power of the sun discovered the true strength of their abilities, it was more than likely that they themselves became corrupt, feeling entitled to power, to dominate others, a right that was not theirs.

But with Sonic, she knew, there was not a chance of that happening. From the moment she met him, she sensed that there was no chance whatsoever of him being swayed in his desire to defeat Illumina, that he would never, not for an instant, consider relinquishing his power to her; the strength of his love for his friends, his pure heart, was far too great to be blackened and corrupted like Illumina's.

As for the sacrifice...Cosmo looked down at Amy's unconscious form, and an overwhelming wave of sorrow crashed over her, extinguishing her flame of hope. She was about as likely to surrender to Illumina as Sonic, perhaps even less so, but it was impossible for her to know just how relentlessly she would be hunted, the lengths Illumina would go to to capture her. And she knew that no matter how opposed Amy was to her, if Illumina caught her, it would no longer be a question of how furious her desire to resist the goddess was; it would be how long she could survive without allowing her to kill her.

Which, if that happened, would probably be about two seconds.

How could Amy know that the fate of both Mobius and Maginaryworld was in her hands? How could she begin to comprehend just how important saving her life was? Would she ever find out what the goddess of Maginaryworld had in store for her, what she had planned as her fate, that if she got caught, she would be forced to –

But, quite abruptly, the doubts that had reigned in Cosmo's mind were banished by a virtual explosion of hope inside her chest; her trust in Sonic, that he could easily overpower Illumina thanks to the discovery of his powers, her belief that Amy's love for Sonic would outshine Illumina's mad desperation to claim her life, her hope in Tails and Knuckles caused her breath to catch in her throat, her whole perspective on their precarious position shifting.

"We can do this!" she whispered excitedly, her hands curling into fists. "I can feel it! These four will bring an end to Illumina's reign of terror." She looked down at Amy, and such a powerful wave of determination rose up inside her that she shut her eyes, vowing, "I promise, whatever it takes, I'll help them defeat Illumina, even if it means risking my life to do so!"

A soft moan sounded from beyond her closed lids, and Cosmo's eyes flew open. She was met with the sight of Amy forcing herself up off the ground, shaking her head in a bewildered sort of way.

"Sonic?" she murmured dazedly, and Cosmo couldn't help but smile slightly.

_How could I have ever thought that Amy is _not_ part of the prophecy? The first thing she wonders about when she wakes up is Sonic's whereabouts._

Amy's eyes lost their dazed look as she looked at Cosmo, and she picked herself up off the ground, brushing her dress off, never taking her eyes, which reflected both embarrassment and something Cosmo, who was rather adept at analyzing people's expressions, did not quite understand.

"Sorry," she blurted out suddenly, clasping her hands in front of her dress, and Cosmo looked at the pink hedgehog before her in confusion. "I don't usually faint like that. It's just – " Amy took a deep, hesitant breath, then said hurriedly, "Well, it's not like I'm a coward, but just the thought of...facing off with Illumina...that she might hurt Sonic to try to get to me..." Amy trailed off, and a blush crept into her cheeks as she met Cosmo's stare with embarrassed defiment.

Cosmo blinked blankly at Amy; her apology confused her, for there was no shame in fearing for her friend's life, and she had never heard anything less worth apologizing for. "There's no need to apologize," Cosmo murmured, smiling slightly. "It's perfectly understandable."

Amy gave her a rather embarrassed smile, then hurriedly changed the subject. "So...where is everyone?" she asked, waving her hand at the empty space around them.

"They've gone to look for the Chaos Emerald," Cosmo responded, still gazing at Amy as though she had never seen anyone like her. "I stayed behind to wait for you to wake up. I'm not sure they trust the two of us to go off on our own and search for it; Sonic said to contact him once you came to."

Amy nodded, flipping over the yellow device she had on her wrist and tapping on it. Cosmo walked over to stand beside her, looking at the device in interest, for she had never seen anything like it. Then, the tiny, blank blue screen split itself into three and showing the pixelated faces of Sonic, Tails and Knuckles, all of whose heads were bobbing up and down as they sprinted over the land and air.

"Hiya, Amy," Tails said, sounding slightly out of breath.

"_Finally,"_ Sonic said, mocking annoyance, though he winked at them through the tiny screen. Knuckles merely grunted to register that he had seen them, looking disgruntled.

"How's the search going?" Amy asked, tossing her head.

Sonic shrugged. "Nothing yet," he yawned, as if the idea of finding the keys to their salvation was beneath him. "But we'll find 'em."

"Any reason you called?" Knuckles asked, not bothering to keep the sarcasm from his voice. Cosmo's eyes narrowed slightly, and Amy rolled her eyes, saying in an acidic voice, "Well, apart from trying to disrupt the super – important adventures of Knuckles the Echidna, we want to know when we're going to meet up."

Knuckles opened his mouth to retort, but Tails beat him to it, saying firmly, "Can it, Knuckles," then, to the two of them, "It won't do any good for us to search in a pack; you two look around on your own and we'll meet up at sundown, or when one of us finds a Chaos Emerald. Whichever comes sooner."

"If you get into any trouble, just call us," Sonic said, and Knuckles snorted, muttering, "Like that'll do any good."

Suddenly, Tails eyes widened in utmost incredulity, as though Knuckles' words had somehow triggered some sort of incredible revelation. With a little gasp, the third of the screen displaying Tails' face suddenly went blank, and Sonic and Knuckles' sections expanded to divide the screen in two.

"What happened?" Cosmo cried in panic, her hands flapping through the air.

"No idea," Sonic said, his eyes narrowing to stare at something in front of him. "We'll check it out. Stay where you are," he added warningly, and Cosmo wondered if he knew exactly what he was thinking. Then his part of the screen went black, followed instantly by Knuckles'. Amy snapped her comlink shut, looking unnerved.

"Do you think he's okay," Cosmo whispered, her bright eyes widening. Amy looked at her with an almost too knowing look in her eyes, and replied, "I don't know. But Sonic and Knuckles'll look after him, they usually – "

Suddenly, a low, rumbling roar sounded from the distant forest from behind them, and both girls whirled around to stare at it, gasping in alarm. A cloud of thousands of terrified birds rose up into the sky, a spacious black mass whose nervous caws could be heard even from this distance. The rumbling grew louder, and as it did so, the ground beneath them began to shudder violently, causing Cosmo and Amy to lose their balance and fall heavily to the ground with cries of alarm.

"What's happening?" Amy screamed over the now – uproarious din, and Cosmo could no sooner have answered her than told her where the six remaining Chaos Emeralds where; a massive cloud of sandy debris had risen above the distant tree tops and was sprinting towards them, the swaying leafy tops collapsing as it passed through them.

Out of the blue, there was an ear-splitting _CRACK! _And the ground below them was rent apart by a deep fissure. With a scream, Amy jumped to her feet, and with blinding speed, she picked Cosmo up and dove across the fissure to safety, while the deafening rumbling of the massive sandy cloud demolishing the forest behind them grew ever louder-

"RUN, COSMO!" Amy screamed in desperation, and her voice sounded weak and tinny compared to the chaos surrounding them.

Cosmo broke into a run, her thin green legs blurring slightly as she sprinted over the grass, using all of her willpower to keep from screaming in terror as she sprinted up and down hills, stumbling with every forceful rumble that shook the very foundations of Nature Zone-

Amy was right beside her, her soft pink hair flying around her terrified face as she tapped furiously on her comlink, bright red boots barely touch the ground as they tore away from the deafening roar. In spite of herself, Cosmo looked over her shoulder to see what was pursuing them, and her heart faltered before bursting into a death sprint; what she could only describe as a chaotic mass of death was roaring after them, completely shrouding the world behind them; it was a mass of swirling winds that whipped a lethal cloud of dust, uprooted trees, forest debris and – her heart gave an agonizing jolt – animal carcasses through the air, peeling the vast expanse of cracking grass beneath it up into the air like a massive green carpet. The roaring was bordering on deafening, her ears were screaming in protest to the uproarious din-

And then, as if to complete this vision of disaster, a violent purple light rent the air, and as it dispersed, a terrifying figure appeared, flying just in front of the chaotic mass, his strange sapphire robes billowing out behind him; his shrouded arms were spread out, and a blood curdling laugh was emanating from his thin, laughing mouth, an insane shriek that somehow sounded over the impossible noise. This creature had emerald hair that flew around his thin grey face, and, more terrifying than his every other feature were his slanting, amethyst – sapphire eyes, sparkling with malice as he glared at their retreating forms.

"AMY!" Cosmo screamed in panic, reaching out and pulling on her friend's arm, trying to tear her away from her screamed conversation with her comlink. "I THINK YOU'D BETTER SEE THIS!"

Amy's mind had become a perfectly blank mass of complete terror as she sprinted away from the rumbling mass of chaos that was tearing after her and Cosmo like a sentient being; she was running faster than she had ever before in her entire life, fuelled by her will to live, her flaming desire to see Sonic again-

_Sonic, _she thought, and she flipped her comlink open, pounding the tiny buttons, her heart hammering in her ears as she raced to contact the others. The screen immediately divided itself into thirds, displaying Sonic's face, twisted with concentration, showing Knuckles' snarl of intense focus. But the third was entirely obscured by blinding cyan light, and panic clawed at her heart like a monstrous beast trying to demolish her concentration-

"WHERE'S TAILS?" Amy screamed over the uproarious winds, her hair obscuring her vision.

"He got the cyan Chaos Emerald!" Knuckles yelled back, his dark purple eyes narrowing in concentration, but he did not look at her. Amy felt weak relief, fearing that something terrible had befallen Tails.

"But as soon as he did, this earthquake started!" Sonic shouted, whose eyes, unlike Knuckles', did not waver from Amy's. "It's exactly like what happened when we got a piece of the Precious Stone from here last time!"

Understanding coursed through Amy, and the disasters that had occurred at the end of their journey to each world flashed through her mind; the massive tsunami that savaged the Maginaryworld double of Emerald Coast, the destruction of Fire Bird that had forced them to sky dive off of it, the disastrous almost – crash of Riot Train, the battle with the 20 – storey monster that had occurred in Fourth Dimension Space, a battle in which each of them had nearly lost their lives, and of course, this earthquake.

"I'm tracking our movements right now," Tails shouted from behind his veil of violent cyan light, and Amy's sense of relief doubled when she heard his voice. "And it looks each of us are at one of the four points of the compass. The good news; we're gonna be seeing each other sooner rather than later. The bad news; the earthquake will close in on us at all sides as soon as that happens."

"Which means it's up to you, Amy," Knuckles grunted unexpectedly, his dark purple eyes flickering to meet hers for the first time. "You heard what Cosmo said; you can teleport us to the place you want to be most. Just...just focus on somewhere that's not here, and transform!"

Amy's eyes widened in panic at being asked to transform on the spot; the only time it had happened before, she had been faced with Void, and she had been enraged beyond reason at the Maginaire's attack on Sonic, neither of whom were present now, both being the likeliest triggers for a transformation.

Cosmo's scream tore her away from her horrified thoughts, sounding shrilly over the supernova – like din.

"AMY!" the Seedrian grasped her arm with terrified strength, and Amy turned her head to look at her in bewilderment. "I THINK YOU'D BETTER SEE THIS!"

Turning to look over her shoulder, Amy let out a gasp of utmost horror; Void was flying behind them, and his arms outstretched, billowing robes and flying emerald hair gave him the appearance of a demonic bird. An insane laugh was booming from his mouth, so jubilant was he at their despair, though his amethyst – sapphire eyes were as dead and ice – like as ever.

But instead of striking terror in her heart, as his every other appearance had caused her, an explosion of unrestrained fury occurred inside her chest, and she did not understand why Cosmo gasped in amazement, or why Void's laughter cut off with an abrupt gurgle of horror. She did not care that the Maginaire had survived her previous attack on him, or that she was literally feet from a violent death; all she cared about was making sure that Void did not get within five feet of her ever again-

"_NO!" _she screamed, and she whipped out her hammer, drawing it back over her shoulder like a baseball bat. "YOU CAN'T TAKE COSMO! I WON'T LET YOU!"

And, digging her heels into the ground to skid to a stop, Amy transferred all of her energy to her back leg, stepping forwards with masterful purposefulness and bringing her hammer over her shoulder with blinding speed, connecting with Void's face with a sickening crunch that would have made anyone but her wince in sympathy. With a roar of pain, Void was blasted backwards, clutching at his face, trailing blood as he tumbled end over end, disappearing in the mass of debris-

Amy turned, literally centimetres from the edge of the cracked earth beneath her, and she blasted herself forwards with speed that would make Sonic proud, the world around her reduced to a roaring blur of blue and green streaks. She caught up with Cosmo in less than ten bounds, and, unable to endure what seemed to her like an agonizingly slow pace, she seized the Seedrian's hand and dragged her behind her, her breath coming in short bursts. And it was then that she caught sight of her hair for the first time, which was whipping chaotically around her face, a mysterious, glowing silver-

Under normal circumstances, she would have been amazed, even terrified, but these were not normal circumstances, and she spared her change in fur colour only enough thought to recognize that she had just opened the door to their escape-

But, as if the earthquake pursuing them was some sort of lethal mirror of her abilities, it began to speed up, and in a matter of seconds, she was barely feet from it, completely deafened by its impossible roar, and it was all she could do to keep sprinting forwards when the ground was shaking so violently beneath her.

And suddenly, finally, she saw it; from beneath her mass of flying silver hair, she saw the last standing tree in Nature Zone a hundred strides away, the most massive one she had ever seen in her entire life, dark brown trunk more knotted than a thousand lengths of rope, wider than twenty smaller trees bound together, its countless expanse of limbs branching out from its trunk, swaying like a leafy green monster in the uproarious winds.

But Amy was not interested in the tree; she was interested in the dark blue blur on her left that was outstripping sound in its desperate race towards her, and Knuckles vivid red form flying through the air on her right, long red hair forming a swaying, tentacle – like cloud around his face, and Tails' bright yellow form, glowing bright cyan, plummeting out of the air at an alarmingly fast rate-

"SONIC!" Amy screamed, and her grip upon Cosmo's hand tightened painfully as she sprinted towards the place where Sonic was waiting, one gloved hand outstretched, his bright green eyes wide with expectancy.

The earthquake was closing in on them from all sides, roaring furiously, screaming for their lives to end, but Amy's furious desire to live far outstripped its craving for destruction. She reached Sonic at the exact same moment Tails and Knuckles did, outstretching her free hand towards him, and he took it in his, clenching it painfully. The moment he touched her, there was noise like a laser beam being fired, and the deafening winds, the bone rattling vibrations, the chaos of their approaching destruction, were all lost in a flash of brightest pink light.


	11. Foul Play

For a second that was stretched into an eternity, they hung in limbo, all five of them holding onto some part of Amy. They were stunned, squinting in the sudden brightness, a hollow ringing in their ears in the sudden silence. And then, quite abruptly, the light vanished, depositing them in a tight compressed space that smelled as foul as a sewer, with dank, slimy walls, minimal light and the outside was as silent as outer space.

There was a beat of absolute silence, and then the cramped space burst into cheers and laughs, high fives and quick hugs; Amy was at the thick of it all, and hands rained down upon her like hail; she received a hug from Cosmo, and high five from Tails, props from Knuckles and, to her embarrassment, a tight – albeit brief – hug from Sonic. At this, the shed went silent, and it was rent apart by Knuckles' wolf whistle, followed by nervous laughter from Tails and Cosmo. Amy blushed, and she tried to locate Knuckles in the darkness to aim a kick at him, but Cosmo interrupted.

"Well done, Amy!" she cried, her face shining with happiness. "We've escaped!"

"The only question now," Tails said darkly. "Is where we are now?"

Amy felt everyone's eyes upon her, and she felt like she had a bright spotlight trained upon her; she herself had no idea where they were, as her only criteria for teleporting to a different place that it had no risk of earthquakes, and that it was as contrasting to the vividly bright Nature Zone as possible.

"I really have no idea," she confessed, her face burning with embarrassment. "But we're not going to find out by staying here! Which way's out?"

There was silence as everyone gazed about, probing the slimy wooden walls, and then, out of the blackness, Sonic hissed, "Over there! Some light is seeping through!"

There was a scuffle of movement towards the place Sonic had indicated, which was not wise, considering that it was such a cramped space.

"Sorry!" Cosmo gasped in apology, as she backed accidentally into Knuckles, sending him crashing into her with painful force.

"_Hey!" _she cried in annoyance, and she lost her balance, toppling into Tails, who in turn tripped and fell into Sonic who, with a surprised, "Whoa!" fell backwards, crashing right through the slimy, rotten wooden wall and toppling out of sight.

Tails loyally dove after his friend, corkscrewing himself through the air as he disappeared into the bright whiteness that lay beyond, and Cosmo somersaulted past Amy to dive after him. Amy made to follow, but Knuckles caught her arm, holding her back.

Amy whirled around, her nostrils flaring angrily, and with an impatient toss of her head she demanded, "_What?"_

Knuckles eyed her coolly for a moment, then, in a low, careful voice, he muttered, "You saved all our lives back in Nature Zone. Don't waste what you worked so hard to conserve." And then, without another word, he skirted her and leapt out the hole in the wall.

Amy stood frozen, still staring at the place where Knuckles had been standing, feeling confused. She had no idea what his words meant, or what had prompted him to say them. But then, with a little jerk of her head, she snapped out of her statue-esque state, realizing that the echidna, who usually only made efforts to speak to her when he wished to convey his disdain for her actions, had probably not wanted to be the last one to jump out of the shed.

"_Jerk!" _she cried, and she threw herself head first out of the hole Sonic had created, somersaulting end over end and landing upright on a cold metal surface, creating a low, gong – like noise.

Brushing her hair out of her eyes, Amy straightened up and gazed around, her narrowed eyes quickly widening in wonder. She was standing on a massive steel train, painted a glistening, amethyst purple, which was speeding over what she could only identify as a never ending expanse of desert, rusty red, stretching out until it met with the deep blue, cloud-streaked sky. In the distance, she spotted the front of the train, its massive exhaust pipe spewing thick white steam. The wind was uproariously powerful, whipping her hair harshly around her face, making her eyes water, pulling at her dress, and it was all she could do to keep it from flying upwards-

"Amy?" someone's voice called from behind her, and with a sharp gasp, Amy whirled around, causing her dress' skirt to fly up into her face. Blushing furiously, Amy yanked it back into position, and, to her embarrassment, she saw Sonic standing there, looking like he was about to burst into laughter at the sight of her.

"Hiya, Sonic," she greeted him, her blush deepening at how he had found her. "Where's everyone?"

Though Sonic's eyes continued to sparkle with laughter, and his mouth was curved into an amused smile, he spoke in a steady, controlled voice. "Looking for the Chaos Emeralds. You know how massive this train is, so we can't really afford to waste any time. Tails and Cosmo are up ahead," he jerked his head over his shoulder, indicating the cars that led up to the front of the train. "Searching the lower levels. I'm gonna help them. Knuckles is inside this car, so you can do the one behind it."

Amy nodded her heart sinking dejectedly as she realized that, once again, she and Sonic were going to be separated. Sonic, clearly guessing her emotions from the expression on her face, clapped his hand upon his shoulder, the guilt in his smile barely detectable. "Don't worry, Amy," he said, giving her a wink to make her heart flutter like a caged bird's. "We'll be out of here before you know it." And with that, he turned and sprinted away from her, leaping over the slight gap between her car and the next, his fur rippling in the insane wind. She watched him go, and loneliness settled over her like fog. For a moment, she considered running after him, but her conscious vehemently disagreed. _You want to impress him, don't you? _It told her sternly. _You'll only piss him off by following him. Just look for the Chaos Emerald!_

So, with a resigned sigh, Amy trudged away from Sonic's retreating form, but stumbled and nearly fell flat on her face; the wind, which had been at her back when she was facing Sonic, hit her full in the face like an iron punch from an giant hand, and the incredibly smooth steel compartment top turned deceptively traitorous as her feet struggled to find a grip on it. Clenching her teeth, Amy crossed her arms in front of her face and forced herself forwards, her legs moving slowly, as if she was fighting through cement as opposed to open air. When she finally managed to cross over from Knuckles' car to her own, she had to stop, feeling incredibly weak, her breath coming in short gasps, clutching at a stabbing pain in her side. Her envy threatened to overcome her desire to impress Sonic, who had had an infinitely easier time reaching his cart, but her depleted resolve solidified once more as she pictured the expression on her hero's face when she presented him with a Chaos Emerald.

Strength burned in her limbs, and she fought her way through the incredible winds, deaf to its impossible roar, and within ten strides she had reached the square space that led to the dark depths of the car. Taking a deep breath, Amy shut her eyes and jumped into the blackness. The howling winds were instantly quietened, reduced to a faint, tinny roar, and her feet touched the ground with a metallic clang that sent painful vibrations running through her. Opening her eyes, Amy saw, through the dim lighting that came from old-fashioned oil lamps, that the compartment was packed with wooden crates and barrels, all unmarked, stacked on top of each other and swaying precariously with each shake of the train.

"Just great!" Amy hissed, glaring at the impossible task that lay before her. An unhelpful voice in her head reminded her that there were still about twenty more cars she had to search, and with a snarl, she shoved the thought from her mind.

More out of anger than anything else, Amy pulled out her hammer and, with an annoyed cry of, "Take _this!" _she swung it over her shoulder, slamming it against the crate nearest her, which broke into in to a dozen pieces with a satisfying _CRACK!_

But breaking one was not enough; launching herself into a tornado- like fury, Amy flung herself around the room, her hammer a pink and pine – coloured streak of rage that she unleashed upon the blameless wooden boxes, the strength burning through her arms threatening to overwhelm her, and in a detached sort of way, Amy knew that she was inches away from achieving a transformation-

In five minutes, she had destroyed every crate, barrel and box inside the room, standing atop a mountain of wooden splinters, her chest heaving, her hammer still in hand. Slowly, Amy's rage subsided, her breathing slowed, and she lamented her waste of energy, for despite the swiftness that she had demolished the car's contents, her fit of rage had not yielded her a Chaos Emerald.

Closing her eyes, Amy descended from her perch upon the mountain of wooden pieces, trudging towards the place where a rusted ladder was bolted to the violet compartment wall. But suddenly, as if a ghost were speaking to her, a faint, chilling whisper shattered the relative silence, echoing off the walls, turning the blood pounding through her veins to ice.

"_I'm coming for you, Amy Rose." _The voice said. Amy froze, one foot suspended in mid air, her closed eyes snapping open and widening in utmost fear, and then, the spell broke as she recognized the speaker. With an ear-splitting scream, she slammed her hammer upon the floor before her, the resulting clang drowning out Void's whispered words, and she rocketed upwards, her heart flying in her chest, trying to break through her chest in its desperate race-

She easily cleared the space that marked the exit of the car, but, to her horror, she kept on flying, tearing through the air, only slowing down when she was thirty feet above the ground, and then, suddenly, the wind caught her up and propelled her through the air, keeping her in its freezing grip, carrying her towards the front of the car, towards where the massive exhaust pipe was still spewing steam.

Terror eclipsed her completely as she realized that the wind that was not natural, some otherworldly force that had no intention of releasing her, and she was absolutely sure that it would carry her over the edge of the train, towards where Void was undoubtedly waiting-

"HELP!" Amy screamed, writhing madly in mid air, trying to get free of the unbreakable force that was ferrying her to her doom. "SOMEONE GET ME DOWN!"

Sonic angrily pummelled the crate before him, shattering it into a hundred pieces, looking down at the pile of sand that oozed out of it with resigned indifference. Every barrel, every crate he had smashed had all yielded the same results, and there was enough sand in the train car to half-convince someone they were at the beach.

He trudged through the sand, his heart pounding furiously in his ears as he drew back his fist once more, about to vent some of his frustration, when Amy's shrill, terrified scream sounded from above him, a plea that caused his heart to wrench painfully where it sat.

"HELP!" she screamed, her voice somewhat dulled by the thick layer of metal separating them. "SOMEONE GET ME DOWN!"

He reacted instinctively, unthinkingly; with a sonic boom he launched himself towards the rusted ladder, scaling the rungs three at a time, flying up to the surface, deaf to all but his friend's screams. He came to a resounding halt just outside the gap in the train, and his eyes widened in horror as he saw Amy being propelled towards the front of the train by some invisible force, writhing and twisting and screaming in terror, thirty feet high in the air and showing no signs of slowing down.

Sonic had no idea what was happening; he only paused long enough to take in that she would soon be taken over the front of the train and forever out of his reach. So, with a shout of, _"AMY, NO!" _he flung himself forwards, no more distinct than a streak of dark blue, tearing after Amy, his legs working faster than they ever had in his life, putting the speed he had reached when he had run for his life back in Nature Zone to shame. But despite this, Amy still evaded him, aided by her massive head start, and in mad desperation Sonic jumped into the air, streamlining himself as he charged forwards, the violent winds blinding him with speed-induced tears, whipping his face harshly, clawing at his body, trying to loosen his rigid form, but he would not relent, stretching his arms out towards Amy, who had flipped onto her back and gazed at him in utmost surprise, upside-down, and she reached towards him, her dark eyes huge-

And then he had her, pressed tightly against his chest, and he wondered idly if he would be able to find the willpower to ever let her go. Clenching her tighter still, he saw, as if through some warped, twisted veil that separated him from reality, Cosmo and Tails, so far below them, the latter holding up what he recognized as the purple Chaos Emerald, the jewel emitted a blinding glow. Then they were whipped out of sight, and he looked up just in time to see that they were hurtling impossibly fast towards the towering exhaust pipe, half-hidden by the spewing amount of thick smoke-

With a sharp intake of breath, Sonic flipped himself over so that he met the pipe feet-first, bending his knees to absorb the impact. For the briefest second, time was frozen, and he stood there, frozen vertically with his arms wrapped around Amy, whose scream had died in her throat as she realized they were not about to die. And then time restarted, and Sonic found themselves hurtling back through the air, the roaring power of the winds pushing desperately against him like an invisible wall, trying to shunt them backwards, but the momentum of his previous speed carried him through it, though they were rapidly losing altitude. Amy was sobbing incoherently, her face nestled against his chest, and she only looked up when they landed unsteadily on the train top with a sharp metal clang.

He pried Amy off of himself, breathing heavily, holding her at arm's length, his grip so tight that he was surprised she didn't wince in pain. Looking intently into her teary eyes, he spoke, in a low, protective voice, "Are you alright?"

Amy gave a choked gulp, brushing tears from her eyes before looking up at him in an agonized sort of way. "Yes," she whispered, her voice low, hoarse, the words almost whipped away by the impossible wind.

"What happened?' he demanded, still in his low, fierce voice. Amy shuddered slightly, and then spoke in a shaking voice.

"I don't really know," she whispered, her soft pink hair flying about her face. "I...I was searching the train, just like you asked, but then I heard Void's voice, he said he was coming for me, and I tried to get out of the compartment, but the next thing I knew I was flying through the air, something was pulling me towards the front of the train, I couldn't get away-"

Suddenly, the train gave a great, shuddering moan, and there was a loud, keening roar of metal scraping against metal. The train lurched violently, and Sonic stumbled and fell, Amy screaming as she fell on top of him. Sonic disentangled himself from her, releasing all but her hands, and he dragged her upright, just in time to see the last four cars of the train break away from the main body, two of them flipping end over end, rolling across the endless expanse of desert, each contact with the ground creating painful booms, while the other two exploded, the force of their destruction causing Sonic's quills to fly back, the heat clawing at him like some sort of fiery ghost.

From the car behind theirs, a bright red form jumped out of the hole leading to the car's interior, sprinting towards them, long hair flying out behind them, propelled faster than usual for the force of the explosions that had just occurred. Knuckles leaped over the space between their two cars, his dark purple eyes ablaze with flames, and he hurtled to an uneven stop before them, panting heavily, his head bowed, hands on his knees.

"I guess...someone's...found a Chaos Emerald," the echidna gasped out, raising his head to stare at Sonic and Amy.

Sonic opened his mouth to answer, but then, abruptly, horrifically, their car began to shake, trying to destabilize the three of them, a dull, shuddering groan sounding from the strained chains that connected their car to the rest of the train. Panic clawed at Sonic's heart, and he couldn't think clearly. Knuckles was shouting something, trying to organize a plan of some sort, and Sonic acted purely on instinct; he made to catch Amy up in his arms, but he froze when he saw that she was once more a bright, glowing silver, her mouth open in a scream of mingling terror and fury that he could not hear. She grabbed Sonic's hand, refusing to fall to the ground as their car broke away from the rest of the train and span off into the desert, and she turned on the spot, preparing to teleport them to safety. At the last second, Sonic reached out and grabbed Knuckles' flailing arm with his free hand, just as the car flipped over, plunging them towards the sand, where they would be crushed by the ten-tonne train, but Amy completed her twist through the air and the world was lost in a mass of bright pink light.

Tails' jaw dropped, and he stared in uncomprehending horror at the place where the car Sonic, Amy and Knuckles had been standing on flipped over, exploding in a violent orange mass of a pillar of flames, a burst of fire that was punctuated by a flash of strange, bright pink light.

"She teleported," Cosmo whispered from beside him, and he jerked out of his frozen state to stare at her. The Seedrian's eyes were huge, reflecting the flaming car that was spinning out into the desert, her mouth a thin line of horror. "She teleported, and left us to die."

Tails felt like something had left his body at her words, causing the desire to live that had been flaming inside his chest to go out, plunging him into deepest despair. She was right, he was absolutely certain of it. But even though death was him straight in the face, Tails' mind was oddly clear; he would, however, have traded the two Chaos Emeralds clutched in his hands to have a chaotically incomprehensible mind at the moment.

If the five of them had been faced with death and Amy could only have saved one of them, he knew she would have undoubtedly chosen Sonic. But they were not all doomed, and she could have easily just teleported to his and Cosmo's side before moving on to the next part of Maginaryworld.

_But she left us, _Tails thought hollowly, and the noise of the explosions, the screeching roar of metal on metal, the blaring of the train's blasting horn as it sped towards the edge of an approaching cliff had all been deafened. _She left without us, and now we're going to die._

Their car gave an abrupt, shuddering groan, and with a scream Cosmo fell against him, knocking them over. Tails hit the metal surface hard, and they tumbled backwards, end over end, a flailing mass of limbs, until they had rolled into open air. For the briefest second, they hung there, frozen, suspended, so that Tails had a clear view of the massive expanse of lifeless desert stretching endlessly out before them. He knew that if they weren't crushed by the train that was undoubtedly spiralling towards them, they would surely die from lack of water as they trudged through the endless rusty red sands-

But then there was a flash of pink light, and Amy was hovering above them, concentration etched upon every line of her face as she looked down at them, and as they began to fall, as if in slow motion, Tails felt her seize his wrist, then had the confused impression of streaking violet, of an ear-splitting screech that could have been made by death himself, and then the world was lost in a flash of pink light.

They hung in limbo for a moment, a stunned tangle of Mobians and Seedrian, none of them able to comprehend that their lives had not just ended. Then the world reformed itself into a blissfully quiet beach, with a cloudless, azure blue sky and a flaming golden sun, soft white sand, palm trees, and a crystalline blue ocean.

Tails collapsed upon the ground, breathing as heavily as though he had just run a marathon, his ears still ringing with the screech of the train hurtling off its rails. Someone fell heavily to his side with a dull thud, their chest rising and falling with short, gasping breaths.

How long he lay there, Tails did not know; the most important thing in his world right now was the heaving amounts of oxygen that flooded his lungs, and the same thought kept ringing jubilantly throughout his mind.

_We're alive! We're alive!_

Time passed, and eventually, the pained ringing in his ears had subsided, he had caught his breath, and Tails summoned the strength to get heavily to his feet. Sonic, Amy and Knuckles were standing before him, all covered in blackened soot, their white teeth contrasting sharply to it as their mouths were stretched into smiles of relief that seemed unlikely to ever leave their faces. Beside him, Cosmo was coughing softly, and she pulled herself to her feet by clawing her way up his legs.

"Thanks," he breathed, looking directly at Amy, gratitude washing through him like a tidal waves. "You saved our lives."

"Did you think I was going to leave you?" Amy laughed, though her eyes shone with apologetic tears. "We arrive together, or not at all."

For a moment, they stood in silence, beaming at each other, everyone still slightly overwhelmed that once again, thanks to Amy, they had cheated death by inches. Then Knuckles broke it by asking in a low, excited voice, "Did you get it? The Chaos Emerald?"

Tails nodded his smile widening as he held up the cyan and purple Chaos Emeralds. "Cosmo found it," he told the others, while the Seedrian blushed slightly. "Thankfully, it was the only one on Riot Train, because if it wasn't we wouldn't be able to find the other one." He flipped open his comlink and began tapping on it, frowning slightly at the stream of information that was appearing on the screen. "According to the readings," he announced, snapping the device shut. "There are two Chaos Emeralds here. Hopefully we'll be able to find them soon."

The others seemed nodded distractedly, relief etched upon their faces as they embraced the prospect of searching for Chaos Emeralds in a place that was as peacefully serene as this copy of Emerald Coast, where the most threatening thing was the possibility of getting a sunburn.

Amy turned to Sonic, smiling sweetly up at him and batting her eyelashes. "Sonic," she asked, her voice layered with honeyed pleading. "Since we've found those two so quickly, couldn't we please, _please, _take the rest of the day off? It's so peaceful here, and I think everyone needs some time to relax."

Knuckles gave a disbelieving snort, and Tails felt incredulous at Amy's request; surely she realized that there was a murderous goddess hot on their tail, that they could not afford to waste time relaxing in the sun when the fate of the universe was in their hands, that they had barely any time left to find the rest of the Chaos Emeralds?

But Sonic threw Knuckles a warning look before turning to look at Amy, his bright green eyes intense, probing as they stared into her darker ones. Then, in a slow, hesitant voice, he conceded, "Well, I don't know about the rest of the day, but I guess we could take a break for now."

"Yay!" Amy squealed, her hands clasped beneath her chin, and, lost in her own delight and losing some of her composure, she gave him a fleeting kiss on the cheek and sprinted away, kicking up little clouds of sand as she took off towards the ocean, followed hesitantly by Cosmo.

Tails did not really register the Seedrian's leaving; he was staring at Sonic, whose expression was one of blank incomprehension, though colour had flooded his cheeks in a rare display of embarrassment. He raised a had to touch the place where Amy had kissed him, and then Knuckles burst into laughter, throwing himself onto the ground, roaring with mirth, his arms wrapped around his stomach as he rolled around. His laughter infected Tails, who, more amused at Sonic's expression then at the situation, burst into laughter as well, shaking slightly as he sank to the ground beside Knuckles, their laughter renting apart the peaceful silence of the coast.

Sonic smiled in spite of himself, but refusing to allow their laughter to get to him, he walked away from them, striding towards a nearby palm tree and scaling it with ease and dislodging several coconuts, which he threw towards them. Tails caught his, more out of reflexes than anything, but Knuckles, who was gasping for breath and was struggling to push himself upright, got hit in the back of the head with his, something that caused Tails and Sonic to burst into laughter at.

When they had at last mastered themselves – Knuckles had long since stormed off and had settled himself on top of a palm tree – Tails turned his attention to the coconut Sonic had tossed at him. As he turned it over in his hands, Tails' stomach gave an audible rumble and he realized that this was the first time in three days that he had been presented with food. He stood up and walked over to a nearby tree, slammed the coconut against the trunk and forced his head beneath it, his mouth open to catch the stream of milk that was pouring out of it. It was warm from the heat of the sunlight, and was a bit too sweet for his liking, but it was liquid all the same, and for that he was grateful.

When the milk had run dry, he began to pry the shell apart, gnawing at the white flesh, his most primal urges taking over. He repeated his actions two more times, so that his chin was damp with coconut milk and his mouth and gloves were sticky from the flesh, and his stomach, which was finally contented with the amount of food it had been presented with, growled in satisfaction.

Feeling slightly sleepy, he sank down to the sand, leaning against the palm tree behind him, revelling in the shade of the broad green leaves, and it was then that he became aware that Sonic was speaking to him.

"Aren't you going to go?" his friend was asking him, his mouth full of the sweet fruit and chin, like his, dribbling with coconut milk.

"Where?" Tails asked blankly, and Sonic rolled his eyes, tossing the drained coconut away as he pointed to a spot behind him.

"Cosmo's calling you," he said, his voice steady, though Tails thought he saw something mischievous sparkling in his eyes.

Tails leaped to his feet, narrowly avoiding slamming into the tree as he whirled around. Cosmo was waving energetically at him in the distance, beckoning for him to join her. He felt a blush creep into his cheeks, and he turned, keeping his eyes averted from Sonic's, handing his friend the two Chaos Emeralds before walking towards Cosmo, trying not to appear too anxious to reach her side.

As he walked, he felt an unfamiliar emotion rise up inside of him, one he could not identify at the moment, but one he did link with the fact that he was nearing the Seedrian. He felt a strange connection with the alien, and it was not just the fact that they had identical eyes; it was something about her, in her intelligence, in her perseverance and wisdom, that drew him to her, and he felt that she felt similarly towards him. Somehow, he had never been involved in the world of romance, albeit impatiently awaiting Sonic's admittance to his feelings towards Amy and the occasional taunting her endured from Sonic and Amy about Cream the rabbit having a crush on him.

But Cream was sweet and sheltered and six years old, too delicate to be involved with the dangerous world he was involved in; his feelings for the girl would never be more than protectively older brother – like. Cosmo was a different matter; perhaps she did not belong in his world, either, but she was a part of it now, thrust into it at an unfortunately young age by Illumina, and he knew from experience that there was no turning back for her.

As he came to a halt before Cosmo, whose eyes were sparkling with delight, beaming at the sight of him, he recognized the emotion that had risen up inside him, for it suddenly flared inside him, consuming him like the inferno that had swallowed Riot Train-

Then, unthinkingly, unconsciously, Tails pulled Cosmo into a tight embrace, his lips meeting hers, crushing themselves against them, insistent, yet incredibly gentle. His intelligent side was screaming at him to stop, and, coming slightly to himself, he pulled away from her, his heart beating with both excitement and fear as he looked down at Cosmo. She looked completely stunned, her lips slightly parted as she stared up at him with incredulous eyes, colour flooding her cheeks. There was a beat of oppressive silence, and then, with a sharp intake of breath, Cosmo flung herself at him, and their lips went once more, her arms wrapping around his neck, his hands on her hips, and the crashing waves, the distant cawing of seagulls, the threat of Void and Illumina and the presence of Sonic, Knuckles and Amy, all became separated from him by a thick veil of unreality.

The only thing in his world was Cosmo, the feeling of her lips on his, and he the feeling that this girl was something special solidified like iron inside his chest, a feeling that had been present inside him since he first laid eyes upon her, when she may have been full to the brim with Dark energy, but nothing mattered anymore, except for the fact that Cosmo loved him.

Amy dropped the seashell she had picked up for Sonic, her eyes fixed upon the entwined forms standing beside the ocean some twenty feet away from her. Her mind was oddly blank, disengaging as she stared at the pair in some confusion, trying to understand what was going on. _That's Cosmo, _she realized slowly, as she recognized the green figure. _And that's Tails. But wait..._oh...

And then her mind sprung back into action, the realization that Cosmo and Tails were kissing each other too great to keep it at a grinding halt. With an excited laugh, Amy turned and sprinted away from them, tripping slightly in her haste to reach the place where Sonic was lying against a tree, his arms folded behind his head as he relaxed in the shade.

"Sonic!" she gasped, staggering to a halt before him, her hands on her knees as she stared at him, excitement coursing through her. "Come quick!"

Sonic's dark green eyes slid open slowly, and he stared up at her with interest. "What is it, Rosie?" he asked playfully, and Amy blushed at the use of her nickname.

"Tails and Cosmo," she answered, her eyes dancing with excitement that was mirrored by Sonic's. The hedgehog leaped to his feet, a smile spreading across his face as he hissed, "_Finally! _I thought he'd never work up the guts to do it!"

Amy giggled, and Sonic turned to face Knuckles, who was invisible but for his shoes in the foliage of the palm tree. "Knucky," Sonic called up in an almost whiney voice. "You're good at guarding stuff, right? Well, stop snoozing and look after these Chaos Emeralds for a sec, I'll be right back!"

Knuckles grunted in his sleep in response, and Sonic lobbed the Chaos Emeralds up at him, laughing softly. The echidna roared angrily as the gems hit him, and Sonic's laughter lingered behind him as he streaked away from the palm tree, speeding towards the place where Tails and Cosmo were standing.

Amy turned and ran after him, her mind racing at the surprising turn of events, and as she stumbled through the sand, she caught site of Sonic, whose back was turned to her as he stood stock still, facing something only he could see, his hands limp at his sides, and Amy knew instantly that something was wrong.

"What is it?" she stammered as she tripped to a halt beside him, her eyes roving around the sand for the cause of Sonic's stillness, and then a gasp of horror escaped her lips.

Tails and Cosmo had disappeared, the only traces of them a torn fragment from Cosmo's white-green dress, and a message, written in a substance horribly like blood, reading, _Goddess Illumina thanks you for the return of her spy and Miles Prower._

"No," Amy whispered, her fists clenched, and she took a step forward, horror and rage boiling up inside her, rendering her incapable of coherent thought. "That son of a bitch! He took them!"

"KNUCKLES!" Sonic shouted, and Amy jumped at how furious he sounded. "GET-"

But the rest of his sentence was lost as a high, cold laugh that made Amy's blood turn to ice rent the air, a faint and ghost-like cackle that increased in volume as its invisible emitter drew closer. Suddenly, Sonic gave an odd, choking gasp, and he fell forwards, his breath coming in short bursts as he shook violently on his hands and knees.

"Sonic!" Amy screamed, throwing herself onto the ground beside him, shaking him by the shoulders, completely bewildered as she tried to get him to look at her. "What's wrong?"

Sonic did not respond; if anything, he began to shake harder, his laboured breathing growing more and more ragged, and tears began to burn in Amy's eyes as she half-sobbed, "Please, Sonic, answer m-"

Without warning, Sonic grew completely still, an abrupt change that caused Amy to fall away from him, her breath catching in her throat. "S-Sonic?" she whispered, crawling towards him. "A-are you-?"

An inhumane screech was ripped from his lips as Sonic whirled around to face her, his normally green eyes now a terrifying, poisonous yellow. Amy screamed in terror as Sonic launched himself upon her, pinning her to the ground, his snarling face inches from her own as he hissed, "There's no escaping me this time, you foolish girl!"

His voice was harsh, twisted and warped, a demonic caw that was nothing like his normal one, and his hands found her throat, their iron grip crushing the life out of her, and Amy's screams were cut off by the lack of air; she kicked and fought, writhing violently in attempt to throw him off, but Sonic was too strong, and his flaming eyes were going to be the last thing she ever saw-

"_GET OFF OF HER!" _Knuckles roared from out of nowhere, and Sonic's oppressive weight was lifted from her as the echidna slammed into him, an enraged ball of bright red. Her vision obscured with tears, Amy sat upright, gasping for breath, and she saw Sonic and Knuckles rolling around in the sand, each of them wrestling for supremacy,; one moment, Knuckles was on top, his metallic knuckles glinting as he punched every inch of Sonic he could reach, and the next, Sonic had flipped Knuckles onto his back, pummelling him back and forth, his fists glowing with deep purple energy-

"SONIC, _STOP IT!" _Amy screamed, horrified into alertness. And as she leapt to her feet, she didn't care that her friend was not in his right mind and would turn on her in an instant; all that mattered was that he was being hurt, and however good the cause of his suffering, it was not good enough for her.

Her horror transformed into white hot energy, and with a cry, Amy flung out her arms from her sides, transforming into her glowing silver counterpart as she did so. Her chest heaving with the effort of keeping the moon's power trapped inside herself, she ran towards where Sonic was mauling the barely- conscious Knuckles, and screamed, "THAT'S _ENOUGH!"_

On the last word, she placed both hands on either side of Sonic's face, willing all of her energy to siphon down to her hands, concentrating on healing her friend, on returning him to normal.

An inhumane snarl was ripped from Sonic's lips as he stared wildly at her, his poisoned eyes glowing with utmost fury, and he drew back his glowing purple fist to punch her off of him, but before he could, Amy felt her hands burn painfully with the raw force they were commanding, and then, a contained burst of purest white light exploded off of her hands, running like a current over Sonic, who had frozen in mid-snarl, his fist uncurled, his yellow eyes wide with incomprehension-

And as the current disappeared from his feet, all the sound seemed to have been sucked from the beach, swarming into Sonic's now violently trembling body. And then, without warning, a mass of choking black smoke burst out of the hedgehog's body, his limbs thrown out to breaking point, head thrown back, eyes slowly morphing from burning yellow to bright green, and Amy could have sworn she heard the faintest scream of pain echoing throughout the air...

The smoke dispersed, and Sonic sagged forwards, as limp as a ragdoll, collapsing onto Amy's shoulder. The latter stood frozen, returning to her normal pink with a soft zapping noise, and her wide eyes began to brim with tears of horror as she held Sonic upright, his faint heartbeat fluttering against her chest.

With a wail, Amy sank to her knees, her face pressed into Sonic's quills, the tears that were flowing from her eyes like a waterfall wetting his fur, and guilt welled up inside her, pouring out of her as she sobbed, rising up once more as she choked for breath, an endless cycle that went on and on as she thought, _It's my fault, it's my fault, I made him come over here, and Void possessed him because of me!_

"Amy," Knuckles said sternly, dropping the Chaos Emeralds and kneeling beside her, attempting to pry her away from Sonic, without results. "He's fine now, just let him go!"

Without waiting for her to articulate a coherent response, he pulled her off of Sonic, steadying her on her feet. Amy brushed tears from her eyes, hiccupping painfully, her entire body shaking violently at the close encounter with the Maginaire. Knuckles used her unstable state as an opportunity to suggest their next move.

"We need to get to the Temple of Light," he said, pacing back and forth, arms folded behind his back as he contemplated their situation. "Void's taken Cosmo and Tails to Illumina, and if we don't hurry, we won't be able to rescue them in time."

Amy was forced into soberness at the echidna's words; she wondered briefly if he had been possessed by Void in attempt to get them to go to the Temple of Light, but decided he was acting of his own accord. "W-what?" she stammered, wiping the last of her tears away with the back of her hand. "I d-don't think so, Knuckles. Going to face Illumina with any less than six Chaos Emeralds is suicide!"

Knuckles stopped pacing and turned to glare at her with flaming eyes. "Do you know how stupid that sounds?" he demanded fiercely, punching one fist into the other to demonstrate his frustration. "You want to hunt for gems instead of trying to save two of your friends' lives?"

Amy actually stamped her foot, defiance rising up inside of her, and she met Knuckles' angry glare with one of equal fury. "Those _gems _are what's going to get us all out of here alive!" she retorted, tossing her head. Knuckles made an angry convulsive movement, and Amy's hand twitched towards her hammer, neither of their eyes leaving the other's face, but a slightly shaky voice from behind them tore them out of their angry bubble of isolation.

"Amy's right Knuckles; we don't have a chance of freeing Tails and Cosmo without the rest of the Chaos Emeralds."

Amy gasped and whirled around, her hand flying to her throat. Sonic had gotten to his feet, looking slightly shell-shocked, undoubtedly because the memory of being possessed was ringing clear as day throughout his mind. "Sonic!" she whispered, running towards him and flinging her arms around his neck. Sonic did not pull away, a gesture of how weak he was, and patted her softly on the back, while speaking over her head towards Knuckles.

"Thanks," he muttered gratefully, his voice emanating sincerity. "For stopping me from hurting Amy. Sorry I went all haywire on ya."

Knuckles shrugged and grunted in response, though when Amy turned to look at him, she could see a ghost of a smile playing about the echidna's lips. She turned back to look at Sonic, who seemed to have recuperated and, clearly deciding enough was enough, he disentangled himself from her.

"Are you okay?" he asked, in a low, awkward voice. "I'm sorry – I mean, I didn't mean to-"

"What are you apologizing to me for?" Amy said wildly, shaking her head meticulously to convey her well-being. "I'm fine...just sorta spooked, you know! I was so scared that you...that you-"

Knuckles reminded them of his presence with a fake little cough, and both Sonic and Amy jumped the latter blushing spectacularly. "Now that we're all reacquainted," he said, his eyes flashing a little too knowingly for Amy's liking. "Shouldn't we start looking for the two Chaos Emeralds? We've still five more to track down!"

Amy froze at his words, her subconiousness registering something her awareness had not quite picked up on yet. And then it came to her, the word ringing throughout her mind, making her feel slightly dizzy.

_Track._

It occurred to her that, until know, she had merely been teleporting them to new worlds, desperate to escape the disasters that had bore down upon them. She hadn't been focusing on taking them to the places where the Chaos Emeralds in each world were, costing them time, energy and, she reflected sadly, two of their party.

Sonic and Knuckles had picked up on her silence, and she came to herself as she realized Sonic was snapping his fingers in front of her face. "Amy? Are you with us?" he was asking from what seemed like very far away.

Amy shook her head in attempt to clear the feeling of awed obviousness that was coursing through her. "I'll be right back," she whispered, eager to test out if her theory was right.

And with a burst of energy that was fuelled by the look she imagined would be on Sonic's face when she returned, she became silver once more, turning on the spot and vanishing into bright pink nothingness, concentrating with all her might on feeling her way towards the place where one of the Chaos Emeralds were waiting...

The light dispersed, and she found herself standing alone in the sand, some hundred yards from the water. She gazed about, slightly disoriented, wondering if she had not teleported to a new spot at all, but then, she realized that Sonic and Knuckles were nowhere in sight, and, at the same time, became aware that the sand beneath her feet was uncomfortably hot. She glanced down, and a gasp of surprise escaped her; a bright green glow was emanating from the sand, making her appear ghostly insubstantial. A smile lit her face, and Amy threw herself upon the ground, digging with enthusiasm, her breath coming in short gasps as she envisioned what she would find-

There it was, sitting pristine and perfect in the rough hole she had created. The green Chaos Emerald shone as bright as the sun that hung above them, and with a laugh Amy scooped it up, leaping to her feet and holding it high up into the air for the entire world to see. _"YES!" _she cried, and with that she turned into nothingness once more, attempting to focus her jubilant mind on the next Chaos Emerald, on finding the place where it was hidden-

As the light vanished, Amy found herself submerged in a watery, reed-filled world. Her eyes widened in surprise, but she forced herself to keep her mouth clamped shut, holding onto her limited oxygen supply. Clenching her hand upon the warm jewel, she turned wildly, her eyes probing the oceanic blue ocean for a sign of deep blue, yellow or white-

And then she spotted it, somewhat camouflaged by the strange, glowing white rock formation it was perched upon. The white Chaos Emerald was perched delicately upon the very tip of the rocks, slightly blinding. Amy swam forwards, trying to reach the Emerald quickly, for her lungs were starting to burn. She kicked her way to the sandy ocean bottom, cheeks ballooning like the fish that swam lazily around her, and she stretched out a gloved hand, reaching out to touch the smooth white surface...

But as her hand closed around the Emerald, there was a loud, rumbling roar, and the rock formation trembled violently, dislodging some of itself and a maelstrom of bubbles rose up around her, forcing her away from the rocks-

And then, with an explosion of noise, the rock formation sprung out from the ground, rocketing towards the surface, the side of its jagged face slamming into Amy, the shock of it causing her to fade to her usual soft pink. She spiralled end over end, rolling into deeper waters, the roaring of the rising rock formation deafening her, and her jumbled mind realized what was going on, that claiming the second Chaos Emerald had triggered the disaster that occurred in every part of Maginaryworld once its treasure was taken.

_Those rocks weren't rocks, _whispered the shred of composure she still retained. _It was the tip of the glacier. And that means-_

Horrified, she inadvertedly took a breath, and inhaled a mouthful of burning wetness for her trouble. Coughing violently, Amy continued to spin end over end, inhaling more water, her lungs burning in pain, screaming for oxygen, she couldn't have told you which way was the surface, and as she clutched at the two things that had plunged her into this dilemma, she realized she was going to drown, that she had failed, that she was never going to save Tails and Cosmo or see Sonic again...

But then the desire to live exploded inside her with such force that she transformed into her silver self once more, and she twisted out of her chaotic tumble, thinking, _I'm coming, Sonic!_

Abruptly, the water, the impossible roar of the rising glacier, were lost as Amy summoned her bright pink light once more, using every last ion of her concentration on picturing the place where Sonic was waiting for her, bewildered at her disappearance. She landed on a soft, hot surface with a resounding thud, and, blinded by the sunlight, she began to cough violently, expelling painful amounts of water from her lungs, choking down air, her entire body heaving with short, ragged breaths.

From what sounded like a very long way away, she heard Sonic and Knuckles shouting at her, both beside themselves with fury.

"Where the hell did you just go?" Sonic yelled. "And why are you all wet?"

"Shoulda given us some sort of warning," Knuckles berated her. "Sonic nearly peed his pants with worry – not that he's wearing any."

"Why didn't you take Knuckles, we could afford to lose _him-_"

"What's so important that you had to half drown yourself to do it?"

Still spluttering water from her lungs, Amy summoned the strength to sit up, and taking deep, slow breaths, she shook her wet hair from out of her eyes, holding up the green and white Chaos Emeralds, an act that silence Sonic and Knuckles at once.

"Here," she coughed. "Sorry I t-took off like th-that, I just had to s-see if what I thought w-was right."

But then, as abruptly as if someone had shouted about it in her ear, she remembered what it had cost her to gain the white Chaos Emerald, that the glacier had risen from out of the water, and that, if memory served, a massive wave would be bearing down upon them in no time at all.

"S-Sonic!" she gasped, struggling to get to her feet. "Knuckles! The wave – the wave –"

Sonic pulled her upright, exchanging confused looks with Knuckles, but she was spared anything they were about to say by a sudden burst of sound that boomed from the direction of the water. All three of them spun around and saw that a massive chunk of ice was roaring skywards, and as it did so, a titanic wall of water rose up, frothing and curving and screaming its displeasure at them, curving at the top as it sprinted towards them-

With a scream of terror, Amy acted instinctively; she didn't care that she was weak and out of breath and barely able to stand upright; she grabbed Knuckles arm and flung herself at Sonic, who caught her against his chest just as she twisted in mid air, concentrating with all her might on the world that was as contrasting to Emerald Coast as possible-

They were swallowed in a burst of pink light just as the tidal wave crashed upon them, washing away everything that was not bolted to the ground, but they had already gone, rematerializing on a massive flying ship constructed of bright red and sturdy wooden planks, the sky streaking past them, a cloud-streaked mass of deep blue, the whistling of wind sounding in their ears-

Fire Bird.


	12. The Maginaire's Revenge

"Let me _go," _Cosmo half sobbed, half demanded as her feet ran wildly in mid-air, struggling to throw off Void's iron grip on the back of her neck. The Maginaire did not respond as he carried her and the barely- conscious Tails towards the circular stone altar that, so high above them, the dully-glowing amber gem that was the Precious Stone was revolving slowly.

As Void floated up the stone steps, he threw Cosmo bodily from him, and with a cry of pain, she skidded across the ground, scraping her exposed skin and banging her head painfully against the hard surface. Little spots of light erupted before her eyes, and, breathing shallowly, Cosmo forced herself onto her trembling hands and knees, looking up at Void with a mixture of fear and defiance, knowing that, unless she used the gift of extreme intelligence she as a Seedrian possessed, she was never going to see Sonic, Amy and Knuckles ever again.

"Now," Void whispered his voice deadly quiet as he hovered over her, still holding Tails by the scruff of the neck. "Tell me, where are Sonic the Hedgehog and Amy Rose heading next?"

Como did not answer him; she couldn't for the life of her. She was staring in transfixed horror at Tails, who she was seeing clearly for the first time since they had been captured. One moment, she had been kissing him, experiencing the first taste of true happiness she had since she had left her home planet, then Void had appeared, cackling insanely, and he tried to attack her, but Tails had defended her, earning himself a broken leg for his troubles. Then, Void had bound them together, and used Tails' blood to write a message to Sonic and the others.

The fox's face was bruised and battered, there was a cut under his left eye, his arms and legs were bleeding, bright scarlet that contrasted with his blackened, soot-covered fur. His broken leg was dangling limply beneath him, hanging at a strange ankle, and his breathing came in short, rattling gasps, his bright blue eyes clenched shut...

"He's going to look a lot worse if you don't answer me," Void hissed, his voice like shards of ice. "I'll ask you again; where are Sonic the Hedgehog and Amy Rose headed next?"

Cosmo's eyes snapped back into focus, and though her entire form was quivering with fright, she stared up at Void with hard eyes, and in a cold, disdainful voice, she snarled, "Go to hell."

She knew in an instant that she had made a big mistake; Void's amethyst-sapphire eyes flashed ominously, and the next thing she knew, Tails was flat on his back, writhing and twisting, his hands curled into claws as he screamed in pain, rolling around, tears pouring from his eyes, his back arching and limbs thrashing as he endured mortal agony-

Cosmo could not endure it; the sight of Tails being tortured because of her was something that caused her as much agony as that that he was surely enduring-

"STOP IT!" she screamed, leaping to her feet, her eyes huge as she gazed at Tails' thrashing, screaming form. "LEAVE HIM ALONE, I'LL TELL YOU ANYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW, JUST _STOP!"_

Tails' went limp, his whole body heaving as he took huge, rattling gasps of breath, and as Cosmo ran to his side, Void's bone-chilling laughter echoed throughout the stone temple. "You see?" the Maginaire crowed, in his cold, yet child-like voice. "Love is for weak fools such as yourselves, and while you stupid mortals allow yourselves to succumb to it, you cannot hope to defeat Goddess Illumina!"

Cosmo was unable to tune out his words as she bent over Tails, her trembling hands on either side of his face, her lips parted in horror as she gazed in horror into his half-lidded blue eyes. She was shaking so violently her form appeared blurred, and in a weak, choked voice, she murmured, "Tails, oh _Tails, _I'm so sorry!"

"That's enough!" Void snarled harshly, and a cry of pain escaped her lips as he seized her by the hair and dragged her away from Tails, throwing her into the middle of the altar. He hovered over her, his clenched fists glowing with twin halos of fire as he glared down at her. "This is your last chance," he told her, still in his terrifyingly ice-like whisper. "Tell me where those accursed hedgehogs are headed, or watch your little friends die the hard way!"

Cosmo stared up at him, her bright blue eyes as round as the moon, and panic clawed at her heart; why did the most significant dilemma she had ever been faced with have to come when she was under such impossible amounts of pressure? She knew that the fate of the universe was held in the response she gave Void, that if she lied to him, or if she refused to answer, that Sonic and Amy would be safe for the time being, but she was certain that the price of her lie would come in the form of a slow, tortuous death for Tails, and then, most likely, her own drawn-out demise. On the other hand, she could save Tails' life, the most significant one in existence in her heart's perspective, but in doing so, she would sell out the only two people who had a chance of defeating Illumina, something her brain knew was intolerable, unthinkable.

"C-Cosmo," Tails choked out from the edge of the altar, and her mind snapped back into focus as she looked at her splayed friend. He was struggling to raise his head, his vast blue eyes bright with tears of pain, and in a slow, slurred voice, he gasped out, "D-don't tell him a-anything, C-Cosm – _ARGH!"_

The rest of his sentence was drowned out by his own ear splitting roar of pain as Void whipped around and, in a thunderous voice, screeched, "SILENCE!" and sent a jagged, crackling lightning bolt of coal black energy streaking at Tails. The fox screamed a long, drawn out cry of agony, his back arching to breaking point, and it was this that prompted Cosmo to burst into speech.

"I have no idea where they're headed," she sobbed, desperate for some sort of understanding, for mercy from Void. "But we've already been to three places, to a huge jungle, and then to this massive purple train speeding across the desert, and we were just at a beach, a beautiful beach with rolling white sand and an azure sky-_"_

"_Silence," _Void hissed, though a malicious smile played about his cruel lips. Cosmo immediately cut off her babbling, her lips pressed tight together, fearing for Tails' life. Void's slanting eyes glinted in pure evil as he glared down at her, and with a sharp flick of his wrist, Cosmo was slammed forcefully against Tails, and the two of them were bound together by thick black ropes.

"Lumina," Void called to the room at large, and Cosmo's teary eyes widened as, in a burst of furling white smoke, another Maginaire appeared before them.

Lumina Flowlight was still a bright pink, delicate looking fairy-like creature, but the kind eyes, smiling mouth and hopeful glow that she had cast off before had all vanished, replaced by a cruel slash of a smile, hard, uncaring eyes and a malicious air. If the Maginaire recognized her, she gave no notice, but she gazed at Cosmo with cold unfeelingness before turning to Void and spoke in a soft murmur.

"What is it, Void?"

"Cosmo here has been _ever _so kind to tell us where our Mobian friends are headed next," Void informed his sister, and her crystalline blue eyes flashed excitedly. "You can be sure that they'll have wanted to head somewhere hot and dry after their encounter with the deadly waves of Emerald Coast, so I assume they're at Fire Bird right now. Ambush them in Fourth Dimension Space, and bring them back here."

Lumina nodded, showing her understanding, and made to turn on the spot, but Void stopped her, catching her arm tightly with one hand. As she gazed at him questioningly, he breathed, "If they put up a fight, do not attempt to retaliate; no doubt Amy Rose has gained a good understanding of her powers by now, and Illumina will not take too kindly to your injury."

"I understand, Void," Lumina responded, a slight snap in her voice at being treated like an incapable servant, and she completed her twist in mid air, vanishing in a puff of white smoke.

As Void turned back to face her, Cosmo's attempts to get free increased by tenfold, the tight black ropes cutting into her skin as she writhed against Tails, leaning away from the Maginaire's malicious smile.

"You promised not to hurt Tails if I told you where they were!" Cosmo shouted, her eyes sparkling with terrified tears. Void cocked his head in mock consideration, and he tapped his chin with a thin finger.

"Did I say that?" he asked, raising one eyebrow as if he were confused. And then an evil smile lit his face, an icy laugh in his voice as he crowed, "I lied!"

He reached out towards her, and Cosmo screamed in utmost terror, realizing that the Maginaire had never intended to let them live long enough to be reunited with the others.

"Can't you guys go any faster?" Sonic shouted, as another booming explosion occurred behind them, a fiery glow emanating towards him, hot wind clawing at his back, singing his fur. He glared up at the ever shrinking forms of Knuckles and Amy, the latter in the lead, who were inching their way up the brass ladder fixed to the ruby side of the exploding ship.

"C'mon, Amy, you gotta hurry up!" he heard Knuckles shout, not bothering to keep the frustration from his voice. As another explosion occurred behind them, Sonic swore violently, a curse that mingled with Amy's terrified scream, and he turned in spite of himself to see what had befallen the ship.

Chaos reigned, it was as simple as that; the metal casing that imprisoned the gargantuan flaming bird that propelled the ship forwards was rapidly bursting into flame, and the heat of the infernos made his eyes water; thick clouds of choking smoke billowed up skywards, oil-fuelled explosions occurred every few seconds, the uproarious wind sending tongues of flame lashing out towards him, and even as he watched, one of the wooden wings protruding from the side of the main body fell away with an ear-splitting CRACK!

"SONIC, COME ON!" came Knuckles' shout, almost whipped away by the sound of a particularly booming burst of flame. Sonic did not need to be told twice; he jumped into a mid-air spin and hurled himself up the ladder, taking the rungs four at a time, more running than climbing, and with a cackle of supernova proportions, a massive, mushroom-shaped cloud of flame rose up behind him, the force of the explosion causing him to fly the remaining distance between him and the towering top of the ship.

Clawing himself upright, Sonic saw Knuckles and Amy standing in the middle of the charred wooden platform, backs pressed together, terror etched on every line of Amy's face, calculating fury upon Knuckles' as his dark purple eyes flickered about for an escape route.

Sonic ran over to join them, and not a moment too soon; a shuddering rumble of earthquake proportions occurred, causing all three of them to lose their balance and collapse onto the blackened wooden platform, and with a titanic, metallic groan, Sonic felt the rest of the ship break away from the platform they were on, the burning glow of the flames growing fainter, though the noise of the still-frequent explosions did not.

Sonic forced himself upright, pulling Amy up with him, and they stood with their backs pressed together, all of them breathing hard as they faced the incredible heat of their flaming surroundings. The cackling flames were closing in on them from all but one side, random columns of flame were erupting from the charred blackened floor, his eyes burning up from the intensity of the heat, and a plan, undaunted by the immense pressure that was bearing down upon them, sprung into his mind; catching Amy up in his arms, he sprinted towards the last flame-free side of the destroyed platform, shouting, "KNUCKLES, _JUMP!"_

He flung himself into open air, Knuckles right behind him, just as an explosion of supernova proportions sounded from behind them, popping his ear drums, the force of the explosion shunting them forwards like a flaming hand, and they were falling blindly through thick white clouds, the perusing flames drying his fur faster than the moisture of the clouds could wet it.

Amy's screams were drowned out by the roaring of the destroyed Fire Bird, Knuckles was falling slightly faster than the two of them, their five Chaos Emeralds clutched tightly against his chest, and at long last, they broke free of the cloud cover, falling through the night time, star-strewn towards the city that stretched endlessly out below them, towering buildings reaching out to meet them, the lights from cars and streetlamps and windows twinkling like a million camera flashes, and a massive red trampoline stretched out beneath them, almost as if the inhabitants had been expecting Fire Bird to explode and force them to sky dive off of it-

Suddenly, the sweltering heat, the roar of speed induced winds, the city beneath them all vanished, lost in a flash of familiar pink light, and the world instantly rematerialized in the form of outer space.

Sonic drifted away from Amy, his eyes huge, ears pounding painfully with the dull ringing of the explosion, and they floated in silence in zero gravity, suspended in the endless expanse of sky that was Fourth Dimension Space, the final frontier. Clouds of multicoloured light hung all around, and there were random flashes of light as animal-shaped constellations, the stars that formed them joined by lines of bright white light, flashed into existence, then faded against the starry, velvety black sky...

"When we get back to Mobius," Knuckles said, shattering the silence with his gruff voice, "I'll personally make sure that Eggman never touches you again, Amy."

Amy laughed in amusement, and Sonic twisted around, torn away from the peaceful oblivion by the sound of it, and his eyes widened in wonder as he saw that the final Chaos Emerald, glowing a bright yellow, was floating inches from his face.

"Gotcha!" he hissed triumphantly, and he reached out, closing his hands around the warm gem, a smile spreading across his face.

"No," came a high, almost musical cry from all around them. _"I've _got_ you!"_

All three of them flipped upright, their eyes narrowed as they stared about for the speaker, who materialized before them in a burst of white smoke. Lumina Flowlight's eyes were narrowed, sparkling with malice as she glared at them, the red, tear shaped jewel fixed to her chest glowing in reflection of her bloodlust.

"You!" Knuckles snarled, making an angry movement, but Sonic held him back. Lumina smiled, displaying glittering white teeth, and with a simpering laugh she said, "Me."

"What are you doing here?" Sonic demanded forcefully, and the Maginaire's crystalline blue eyes flickered to meet his. "Shouldn't you be off plotting," he let out an unimpressed snort. _"World domination _with your little dream world friends?"

Lumina's smile became a snarl, he beautiful face twisted with fury, and she raised one hand, palm facing him, lavender energy ballooning at her shoulders, obscuring her entire arm as she shouted, "HOW DARE YOU?"

With a noise like a laser beam being fired, a pillar of lavender energy streaked towards him, as fast as a streaking arrow, but Sonic was faster – as fast as light.

As Knuckles dove at a screaming Amy to knock her out of harm's way, unrestrained fury boiled up inside him faster than an erupting volcano, and in less than a hundredth of a second he was shaking with rage, a rage he had only matched once in his lifetime, an eternity ago back on Mobius, when Illumina had killed Amy. And as he glared at Lumina, her pixie-like face contorted with fury, time seemed to go in slow motion as he thought about the personality transformation she had underwent, changing from a gentle ally to a twisted minion of the corrupted Illumina, and it was this that drove him to unleashing his anger with a wordless shout, his limbs flying out behind him.

They appeared around him, just like before, the seven Chaos Emeralds humming faintly as they circled him slowly, as if contemplating him before shooting in to him, red, green, yellow, cyan, white, purple and darkest blue, each one like an electric charge, transforming him molten gold for the second time in his life.

All this occurred in a fraction of a second, and in that fragment everything changed; Lumina's crystalline eyes widened with horror as they took in his transformation, and his unrestrained power flexed like a shield, causing Lumina's attack to rebound off of him and charge towards its owner, who screamed in fury as she was struck square in the face, blasted through the air with an explosion of sound, her scream trailing behind her as she rocketed away from them, rapidly becoming no more than a pink speck-

As Knuckles and Amy cheered their approval, there was a shrill, electronic ringing that caused the din to be silence at once. All three of them gazed about in anticipation, searching for some sort of technological terror to be bearing down upon them, but they realized that the source of the shrill beeping was coming from their wrists.

As one, Sonic, Amy and Knuckles flipped open their comlinks, and each let out a united gasp of, _"Cosmo!"_

For the Seedrian's pixelated face was staring up at them, her bright blue eyes over bright, and, in a weak attempt at a smile, she whispered, "Hello."

"Where's Tails?" Sonic demanded, and, to his horror, Cosmo's smile faltered, her tears spilling over her cheeks.

"Void's got him," she whispered, and he felt as though the blood in his veins was turning to ice. "I don't think he's killed him, because I think he's using him as bait to lure you to him...but this brings me to why I called. You've got to free Tails, you've got to, because together, you four will be able to defeat Illumina, I can feel it! Don't worry about me," she added, with a bitter smile, and as all three of them made noises of protest, she cut across them. "I'm not important, I'm out of the way, and you'll be risking your lives to-_"_

"No way!" cried Amy, tossing her head in fury.

"Absolutely not," Knuckles agreed, his voice dripping with vehemence.

"We risk our lives on a daily basis, Cosmo, and we're going to keep doing it." Sonic told her firmly, and Cosmo shook her head, opening her mouth to speak, but it promptly formed a perfect 'o' of horror as her head whipped around to stare at something in the blackness behind her.

"No!" she screamed her voice shrill with fright. "Get away from me, don't-_"_

There was a high, icy laugh, and then their comlinks went black, leaving no doubt in Sonic's mind who had just approached Cosmo. He was shaking with fury, and, as if Amy were a radio tuned into his emotions, she let out a wordless scream of rage, and they were blasted forcefully out of Fourth Dimension Space, the world, which was lost in a flash of pink light, reforming instantly into what was still open space, but without the flashing constellations. They were now standing outside a massive stone temple, its cylindrical form rising high up towards the heavens, ornate wooden doors concealing what was inside it.

More importantly, however, was the dazzlingly white glow that was pouring out from the flawless stone temple, slightly blinding, and Sonic was sure that whatever was causing it, it meant nothing good for them. He felt the last of his impossible strength leave him, and a burst of light exploded off of him, returning him to his normal dark blue.

"The Precious Stone!" Knuckles muttered with sudden comprehension, and Sonic felt his heart sinking as he realized the echidna was right. The Precious Stone had been a dull, faintly glowing amber last time he had seen it, something he was sure was linked with Illumina's weakened state, and the fact that it was glowing so pure, so bright must have meant that she was gaining power, power that was shared by her ruthless cronies.

"We're doomed," Amy moaned, sounding faint with terror.

"No, we're not," Knuckles said flatly, "We've got – Sonic, what happened to the Chaos Emeralds?"

Sonic spun around, looking down at the ground, and his breath caught sharply in his throat; the Chaos Emeralds were gone, something that was always a constant with them whenever they managed to unite them. Their disappearance marked days of tireless work, of bloodshed and terror, and now they were gone, as were the worlds they had taken refuge in. He felt his mouth go dry, and he looked up in horror, to see that Amy looked to be on the verge of hysteria, something he himself felt to be on the brink of it as well, but, to his intense surprise, Knuckles let out a bark of triumphant laughter, and he punched the air jubilantly.

"What?" Sonic demanded, hope sparking inside him, and Knuckles turned to stare at him gleefully, his mouth twisted into a smile.

"We're not doomed at all!" he crowed. "Sonic, don't you see, we wasted so much time travelling around Maginaryworld collecting all the Chaos Emeralds, when we could have gotten out of there the moment we landed!"

Sonic's face went blank, for he had no idea where Knuckles was going with this, but Amy, apparently understanding something, let out a loud gasp, her hands flying up to cover her mouth as she stared, wide-eyed, between him and Knuckles.

"All you've got to do is kiss Amy!" Knuckles laughed, and Sonic felt as though the air around him had just dropped twenty degrees. "They'll come flying back, and we'll be all set!"

Sonic was silent, stunned, his mind reeling. Knuckles' logic made so much sense, he was amazed he hadn't seen it before. But now that the answer was so clear before him, he wished it would retreat into its veiled hiding place. The thought of kissing Amy, when he was not consumed with rage – and more importantly, with her being conscious and Knuckles standing there – was terrifying, and he knew that he wouldn't be able to do it.

A wry, unhelpful voice in his head snickered, _Does she scare you more than that maniacal goddess?_

But the voice caused an explosion of images to occur inside his mind; the bloody message left by Void, Cosmo's terrified face as she plead with the darkness for her release, Tails' face, then Lumina's furious one as she spiralled through space, replaced instantly by Illumina's jubilant one as she stared out him from Eggman's massive screen back on Mobius.

There was no other way to summon the Chaos Emeralds, and unless he wanted Amy to drop dead so that he wouldn't have to face the daunting prospect with her conscious, he would have to grit his teeth and do it.

As his resolve solidified into a wavering mass of insubstantiality, he closed his eyes and commanded, "Come here, Amy."

He could hear her footsteps echoing off the jewelled stone platform as she approached him, her breath coming in excited bursts. He sensed that she had come to a halt before him, and his eyes slid open to see her staring at him, her dark green eyes sparkling. Taking a deep, steadying breath, he swallowed his pride and leaned forwards, his lips meeting hers, which were incredibly soft. Something incredibly like fire rose up inside of him, and the reluctance that had been consuming him quickly morphed into desire; he found himself holding onto Amy, and the only real thing in the world was her, the eagerness of her lips against his, the softness of her hair, the feeling of her body against his-

But then he was wrenched away from her by an irresistible force a hundred times stronger than he. The seven Chaos Emeralds were hovering around him once more, obscuring Amy from view with their blinding glow, and then, as one, they surged into him, not wasting time as they had before, as if sensing the desperateness of the situation. Once more, an explosion of raw force took place inside of him, and with a feral snarl, his arms flew out from his sides as a ring of bright white light exploded off of him, transforming him purest gold, an unstoppable bundle of fury that was directed at Lumina, Void and Illumina-

And then he caught sight of Amy, who seemed to have captured the beauty of the moon and moulded to suit her; glowing more brightly than she ever had before, her hair floated around her in a delicate breeze that had just picked up, her dark silver eyes glowing with happiness, and with wordless nods to each other, they turned and ran forwards, breaking through the heavy wooden doors as though it were no thicker than paper-

But the moment they burst through the wood, Sonic knew in an instant that it was the worst thing they could have done; the Temple of Light, which had been deceptively full of white from the outside, was consumed in pitch black, the light from the Precious Stone smothered in shadows. Skidding to a halt, Sonic gazed about himself, able to see only because of the molten gold glow he was casting illuminated the space a few feet before him. Amy had come to a stop some three yards ahead of him, turning slowly on the spot, radiating her mysterious silver glow, her hammer in hand, sharp eyes narrowed as they roved about the darkness.

However, there was nothing to see; all around them was oppressive blackness, and the silence that consumed them seemed too huge to be contained, bearing down upon them like some sort of invisible monster. Exchanging significant looks with Amy, Sonic opened his mouth to speak, but a low, agonized moan shattered the silence, sounding from behind him. With a gasp, Amy darted past him, and as Sonic whirled around, he saw that she had thrown herself onto the ground beside Tails, who was lying in a broken, bloody heap.

Sonic walked forwards in a kind of horrified, trance, gazing down at his friend with huge eyes; Tails was battered and bloody, there was no inch of exposed skin that was not either bruised or matted with scarlet liquid, one eyes was puffy and closed, blood was trickling out of the corner of his mouth, and one of his legs was sticking out from beneath him at an unnatural, gross angle.

Amy placed her trembling hands upon the fox's chest, and then, incredibly, silver sparks erupted from her fingertips, running along his form in a sparkling current, burying themselves into his countless wounds, concentrated so heavily upon his broken leg that it was obscured by a glowing cocoon of light. In less than half a minute, Amy had restored Tails to his pristine former self, and his eyes flew open, wide with panic that instantly morphed to wonder as he saw the silver Amy and golden Sonic leaning over him.

"What the-?" he muttered, pushing himself upright. Relief settled in upon Sonic, so powerful that he felt dizzy, and he pulled Tails to his feet, grinning broadly.

"Glad to see you're okay," he greeted, clapping him on the shoulder, while Amy gave the fox a brief hug.

Tails smiled at him, still looking slightly confused, an expression that deepened as his eyes roved about the empty air beside Amy. "Where's Knuckles?" he asked, tilting his head to the side in confusion. Sonic's eyes widened in horror, and he looked at Amy, blank with shock, to see that her face was a perfect portrait of utmost terror that reflected exactly how he felt. They stared at each other, neither able to believe that they had forgotten the echidna, nor able to comprehend how he had vanished, when a note of unrestrained laughter rent the air apart, followed by light flooding the temple.

Squinting in the sudden brightness, Sonic slipped into a half-crouch, standing cautiously in front of Amy, an act that was mirrored by Tails, and they all turned to glare at the place where the laughter was coming from. As his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he was met with the sight of a stone altar that was sitting about ten meters away from them, upon which Cosmo was forced into kneeling position, bound by thick black ropes, gagged by a filthy black cloth, and she was struggling to throw Lumina off of her, whose face had been wiped clean of blood and was contorted with fury as her enraged eyes flickered between Cosmo and their group. Void was hovering beside the wrestling pair, bringing his hands together in a slow applause that echoed throughout the silence of the Temple of Light.

"Bravo, Sonic," Void called, mocking impressment, though his wicked amethyst-sapphire eyes flashed maliciously, evidently wishing him a painful death. "You've managed to reach the Temple of Light at last, and you even managed to heal that worthless fox beside you!" he added at Amy, who snarled in response, drawing her hammer.

"Your services are no longer required, Amy Rose," Void continued, clearly overjoyed at what he was about to tell them. "For Cosmo here has volunteered to take your place! You see, she's just brimming with love for Miles Prower, something that will allow Goddess Illumina to gain a body at last!"

Sonic's heart was pounding loudly in his ears, pumping both fear and adrenaline through his veins; doing his best to keep the panic from his voice, he shouted, "Where's Knuckles?"

Void and Lumina exchanged brief, blank glances, and then Void hissed, "I have no idea what you're talking about, hedgehog. But I thought you'd be more worried about your predicament than the whereabouts of your imaginary friend.

He drifted over to where Cosmo was bound, and her attempts to throw off Lumina increased by tenfold as he drew closer to her, her furious screams muffled by her gag. Tails made to run forwards, his breath catching in his throat, but Sonic threw out an arm to stop him, cautioning, "Stop!"

"Listen to your friend, Miles Prower," Void called, and with a flick of his wrist, the bindings around Cosmo fell away. Before she could attempt to escape, however, the Maginaire had seized her by the hair and pulled her up into the air, a cruel smile twisting his lips as she gasped in pain at being suspended in mid-air by the hair. "I have an offering to make you, Sonic the Hedgehog," he boomed, his ringing voice echoing off the circular walls of the Temple. "I will let young Cosmo here go-" he shook the suspended Seedrian, and she gave a wail of agony at being handled like this. "- if you touch the Precious Stone. Refuse, and you can watch your little friend die before your eyes."

Cosmo's eyes widened in terror at the Maginaire's words, and she screamed, "NO! SONIC DON'T! FORGET M-" She cut herself off with a cry of pain as Lumina flew forwards and slapped her harshly across the face, clamping a hand over her mouth as she hissed, "Be quiet!"

Tails winced as the sound of the blow echoed throughout the temple, and both he and Amy turned to face Sonic, both of their eyes bright with panic as they stared imploringly at him.

"Don't listen to him!" Amy cried, shaking her head back and forth, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"You can't seriously be considering it, Sonic!" Tails said wildly, grabbing his arm as he guessed Sonic's thoughts.

For the hedgehog knew that nothing good would come from touching the Precious Stone – why else would Void have used it to bargain for Cosmo's release? But as he stared unblinkingly into Void's slanting eyes, he knew that he didn't have a choice; he could not make Cosmo take the fall for his reluctance, and he had to trust that, if anything happened to him, Amy and Tails would be able to defeat Void and Lumina.

But he knew in his heart that, without him, they had very little chance of eliminating the two Maginaires, and, if they managed that, even less of a chance of defeating Illumina.

_But what choice do I have?_

Sonic took a deep, steadying breath, then his eyes flickered towards Amy, trying to tell her what was on his mind through his eyes. Amy's dark silver orbs widened, and she screamed, _"NO! I WON'T LET YOU!" _throwing herself against his chest, holding onto him with all her considerable strength, wetting his fur with her tears. Sonic turned with difficulty to look at Tails, whose bright blue eyes were huge, sparkling with tears as he gazed at Sonic in mute horror.

"Tails..." Sonic muttered, and with a gulp, the fox grabbed Amy and pried her off of his chest while whispering hoarsely, "Sonic...don't do this..."

Sonic winked, and even though he knew that he was facing the possibility of death straight in the face, he would not allow fear to overcome him. "I've got to," he answered, his voice firm. Taking a deep, steadying breath, he concentrated on rising upwards, on flying towards the Precious Stone. As his feet left the ground, Amy collapsed into agonized sobs, each one causing his heart to throb painfully, and he refused to look at her, at Tails, focusing instead on the altar where Void was staring at him, his amethyst-sapphire eyes wide with anticipation as he followed his progress upwards, at Lumina, whose teeth were bared with the effort of restraining Cosmo, whose large blue eyes were streaming frustrated tears, her form writhing as she struggled to be free of Lumina's iron grip...

Sonic looked up at the blinding white stone above him, rotating unconcernedly, oblivious to the fact that contact with it may very well end his life. As he stared at it, Cosmo's words, spoken as if in another lifetime, rang through his mind.

_Illumina believes that, in order to fulfill the prophecy, both you and Amy must die._

Was part of the Seedrian's ominous sentence about to come true? Would touching the Precious Stone kill him? Or would it merely cause him unendurable agony, incapacitating him temporarily, but not permanently? Would it end his transformation, or would it cause him to have a change of heart, just like Lumina, turning him against Tails and Amy and Knuckles and Cosmo, transforming him into the possessed self he had become back on Emerald Coast?

At long last, he came to a halt before the Precious Stone, its blinding glow captivating him as much as it repulsed him. As he stared at its perfectly smooth surface, he was seized by the sudden desire to attack it, to shatter it into a thousand pieces, but he mastered this urge, knowing that Void would not release Cosmo if he did so.

For a second stretched into an eternity, Sonic stared at the Stone, and he thought suddenly of Amy, of all they had been through together, of the kiss they had shared outside this wretched temple. He felt as though his entire life had led up to that moment of blissful oblivion with her, and he wondered, in a detached sort of way, if that memory was about to leave him forever. With an effort that felt as though it might kill him, Sonic reached a gloved hand forwards, shaking slightly, and his eyes slid shut, imagining that he was still outside the Temple of Light with Amy, that the warm glow that was consuming his outstretched hand was not caused by the gem before him, but by his friend's warm body crushing itself against his-

When his fingers were an inch from the smooth white surface, several things happened at once.

First, Knuckles, at long last, revealed himself, and with an enraged roar he flung himself at Sonic, knocking him away from the Precious Stone, shouting, "Are – you – _insane?" _At the same moment, Void, who had clearly never intended to keep his end of the deal, turned to Cosmo, who screamed in terror as Lumina released her, allowing Void to pounce upon her. Amy, meanwhile, let out an outraged scream of, "SONIC, _NO!" _and she flung her limbs out from her chest, causing an explosion of noise to burst off of her shaking body, and a transparent current of supernova-class fury sent Tails, Lumina, Void and Cosmo flying, all of them blasted apart and crashing into the stone walls with dull, sickening crunches.

As Sonic and Knuckles landed hard on their feet, Amy flung herself at him, sobbing uncontrollably as she cried, "Don't you ever do that to me again, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

Sonic thought she may have been hoping to crush the air from his lungs; disentangling himself from her, he said, "Sorry, about that Rosie, I-"

"_COSMO!" _Knuckles shouted, tearing the two out of their isolated bubble; Sonic whirled around, and his heart thudded to a halt; Void, undaunted by Amy's brutal attack upon him, had flung himself at Cosmo, who was screaming at the top of her lungs while the Maginaire drained her of energy, causing her to grow thinner and thinner, her screams becoming weaker and weaker-

"_NO!" _screamed Amy, and with a whirl of her dress, she vanished in a burst of pink light, reappearing instantly beside Cosmo and Void, and with a wordless shriek of rage, she pulled out her hammer and slammed it into Void with such force that the sound of the blow echoed throughout the temple. The Maginaire was propelled through the air, yowling in pain, trailing thick red blood, and he skidded across the ground to a resounding halt, stopping feet from where Sonic and Knuckles were standing. With an outraged roar, Sonic lunged and Void, but instead of falling on top of him, Void rolled out of the way, disappearing in a burst of onyx light.

Sonic rolled to his feet and spun around, guessing what was happening by Knuckles' wordless shout of denial; Void had reappeared beside Lumina, who was shaking her head experimentally, struggling to get to her hands and knees, and he pulled her to her feet, leaning in so that his face was inches from hers, and Sonic knew that whatever he was about to do, it was nothing good-

With a sonic boom, Sonic flung himself forwards, his heart bursting into a death sprint as he sped towards the place where Lumina and Void were now intertwined, desperate to reach them, to wrench them apart-

But an explosion of noise burst off of the Maginaires in the form of a bubble of blood red light, obscuring Void and Lumina, the force of its sudden appearance blasting Sonic backwards through the air, and in less than a second, he had slammed into the stone wall opposite them with such force that the stone beneath him groaned in protest. He slid to the floor, his head threatening to burst from pain, spots of light erupting before his eyes, but with the Herculean strength that had given him the energy to make himself reach out in attempt to touch the Precious Stone, he forced himself to his feet, taking him a moment to realize that the howling roar of impossible winds was not, in fact, inside his head, but occurring on all sides of him, coming off the rapidly expanding bloody red bubble that had now obscured half of the Temple of Light, brushing the edge of the Precious Stone, which was pulsating like some kind of jewelled organ.

And then, a harsh, warped demonic voice, twisted with triumph and inhumane rage, sounded from the depths of the orb, screeching, "THE END APPROACHES, MOBIANS! I WILL PUNISH EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU, FAITHLESS FOOLS FOOLISH ENOUGH TO ATTEMPT TO DENY MY RISE TO POWER!"

Sonic staggered forwards, ignoring the pounding in his head, and he became aware that Amy was standing beside him, giving up attempting to beat her dress into submission, allowing it to fly up around her, exposing her frilly white undergarments, shielding her face in the crook of her arm. Beside her stood Cosmo, and though she was no longer thin and frail-looking, she looked incredibly weak, the pain in her bright blue eyes more pronounced than before. Tails was on his other side, his fur rippling, anxiety etched upon his face, and beside him stood Knuckles, his long hair flying out around him, his arms folded across his chest, muscles bulging, looking supremely unconcerned.

And then, quite abruptly, the bloody red orb vanished, an act that seemed to suck all the sound from the room, swarming into the center of the altar, where a horrific sight met their eyes.

Cosmo and Amy both gasped in revulsion as they saw that Lumina was lying splayed atop it, her head tilted back unnaturally far, her crystalline blue eyes transformed into unseeing orbs, her expression completely blank. Blood was leaking out of the corners of her eyes and mouth, trickling onto the stone beneath her, but mingling with the blood was a sparkling, plasmatic blue substance, thicker than smoke but not quite liquid, pouring out of her mouth and nose and rising up towards the Precious Stone, melting easily into the side and causing the gem to swell with the intake of it.

Beside Lumina, his entire body shaking with the effort of drawing in short, ragged breaths, was Void, hovering feet from the ground, clawing his way forwards on his hands and knees, his emerald haired head bowed, blood splattering the ground as he coughed weakly.

"Illumina," he rasped, his normally icy voice choked with fear, and he sounded much more child-like than usual. "W-why are you d-doing this?"

The goddess divine voice sounded from the Precious Stone, a soft murmur that was just as quiet as Void's, a deadly quiet mixture of stardust and sunlight. "You know why, Void," whispered Illumina, and Sonic could picture her beautiful face, twisted with malicious pleasure as she watched Void's suffering. "You and Lumina both make up part of me, and in order for me to gain a body, I must have your lives."

Void looked up, his whole form convulsing with strained breaths, and he struggled to raise his head. For a split second, his amethyst-sapphire eyes absent of their usual cruelty, replaced by what looked incredibly like pleading terror, and then he exploded in a flash of onyx light, revealing a cloud of the same plasmatic blue substance that had been leaking from Lumina, and it rose up towards the Precious Stone while Sonic, Amy, Tails, Knuckles and Cosmo stared at it in horrified silence. It melted into the bottom of the glowing gem, which seemed incapable of absorbing anymore; a pillar of purest white light shot down from it, connecting the bottom of it to the center of the altar.

As quickly as it had appeared, the pillar vanished, though Sonic would have traded everything he owned for it to still be there. Illumina stood in its place, her divine face glowing with happiness, her dark brown eyes sparkling with wonder as she examined the back of her pale hands, looked down at her flowing pink and white robes, running her hands through her flowing blonde hair.

And then her face lit up into a terrifying smile as she looked up, her eyes locking onto Sonic's, causing him to slip into a half crouch, willing the terror that was clawing at his heart to morph into adrenaline.

"Sonic the Hedgehog," she murmured, tilting her head to the side as she stared at their group in amusement. "My supposed...downfall."

And with an inhumane screech, she launched herself at him, her beautiful face leeched of all beauty by the fury that was etched upon her face. With a snarl, Sonic sprinted forwards to meet her, every thought wiped from his mind as he focused every ion of his concentration on attacking the goddess.

The final battle had begun.


	13. The Depths of Sorrow

Cosmo's mind was blank with horror, reducing her to little more than a shell as she watched the battle unfolding. With an inhumane screech, Illumina flung herself at Sonic, who dashed forwards to meet her, and the two were locked in one of the fiercest battles she had ever seen, exchanging lightning fast blows that neither of them landed for the speed their opponent was flying at. Sonic lashed out in a hard kick at Illumina's middle but the goddess whirled backwards, retaliating with a lightning fast punch that Sonic blocked with the side of his arm, an act that forced both of them off balance. A beat of absolute silence, and then Illumina hurled what could have been an invisible ball at Sonic, morphing instantly into existence by taking the form of a roaring fireball, and Sonic only had time to duck before Illumina was upon him once more, her hands obscured with violent green energy as she lashed out at him, blow after blow of absolute fury, forcing him to leap backwards, jumping and ducking and rolling out of harm's way-

Out of nowhere, Amy's hammer, enhanced with blinding silver flames, was spinning through the air with a sinister whooshing sound, a streak of silver that rocketed towards the goddess at a blinding speed. But Illumina, incredibly, whirled around and caught the head of the hammer in both hands, launching it back at its owner, who, incredibly, had jumped into the air, caught her weapon and slammed it over her shoulder as cracking an egg open, but in a swirl of her robes Illumina was gone, reappearing instantly behind Amy, who landed on the ground with a bewildered, "Huh?"

With a snarl, Illumina lashed out in a hard kick, her brown leather boot connecting hard with the small of Amy's back, and the silver hedgehog was sent yowling twenty feet away. Tails and Knuckles both unleashed snarls of outrage and launched themselves upon Illumina, who let out a note of wild, screeching laughter, her eyes aflame as she slashed her hands through the air, a terrifying mass of swirling pink, bone white and crackling green energy-

Sonic, incredibly, had frozen, his hands forming the shape of a gun as he pointed his index fingers at Illumina's sashaying form. The goddess caught sight of him, ducking under Tails' mid-air roundhouse kick, and in a horrible, mock baby voice, she called, "Going to shwoot me wif a pwetend gun, Sonic?"

But her demented laugh was cut off by her own gasp of pain as Knuckles miraculously managed to land a punch in the back of her head, the force of the blow enough to down an elephant, but, to Cosmo's horror, the goddess only staggered forwards. Her dark brown eyes flashed with inflamed rage, and she whirled around, seized Knuckles by the throat and hoisted him high up into the air, the echidna's form jerking and writhing as he roared in pain, violent green sparks cackling around his form like electricity. With a screech, the goddess flipped Knuckles upside-down and slammed him forcefully onto the ground, and the force of the tremor that was caused by his head connecting with stone sent painful vibrations running through Cosmo's legs.

"Knuckles!" she screamed, reaching out towards the place where the echidna was bleeding from the head, but then, there was a briefest flash of pink, and then Amy was standing over Knuckles, her trembling hands resting upon his chest, silver sparks erupting from her fingertips and sprinting towards the matted, bloody mass of fur that was his head-

Illumina let out a scream of utmost rage as she realized what Amy was doing, and she started towards her, murder on her face, but it was then that Sonic finally acted.

The downfall had lost his glowing golden colour to his hands, which were obscured by a blinding, molten gold that was only matched in brightness by the sun. With a wordless shout, he flicked his wrists, and with a noise like a laser beam being fired, a streak of concentrated sunlight erupted from out of his fingertips, rocketing towards Illumina, a blinding mass of death that the goddess tried to jump over, but the beam merely curved upwards, allowing nothing to distract it from its course-

A positive explosion of sound was released from Illumina's body as the beam connected with her chest, and with a scream of outraged denial no one could here, the golden beam of light crackled around her form like a bolt of lightning that refused to disperse, attacking the limbs that were stretched to breaking point, thunderous booms emanating from her rigid form as she endured what Cosmo could only imagine was mortal agony.

But the fact that Illumina had not disappeared, that she remained where she was, writhing and twisting herself into grotesque displays of pain, was a sure sign that she was not about to be vanquished that easily, something that Cosmo tried to warn Sonic of, but she was cut across by-

"_YES!" _screamed Tails, Knuckles and Amy, all sprinting towards Sonic, but at their cries of jubilation, Illumina's eyes stopped bulging, replaced by smouldering fury that was present upon every line of her demonic face.

"NOW YOU'VE DONE IT!" screamed the goddess, and with that, pillars of purest white light began to break through her body as if she were made of glass, through her chest and legs and middle and arms and finally her face, until the entire world was obscured by a mass of blinding light. With a scream, Cosmo shielded her face in the crook of her arm, and at the same moment there was a deafening roar of solid rock being blasted apart, and she knew, without knowing how she knew, that the Temple of Light had just been blasted – or more accurately, obliterated – apart, the force of the explosion that had taken place inside Illumina destroying the ancient stone walls, reducing it to a massive jewelled platform that hovered in endless space...

And then, quite abruptly, the light dispersed, the impossible racket ceased, though it continued to force its presence upon Cosmo's pounding, searing ears. But what she saw standing in Illumina's place made her wish that the uproarious explosion of noise was still raging on, that it would continue forever...

Tails and Knuckles gave moans of despair, while Amy let of a gasp of true horror and Sonic uttered a violent swear word. Her heart thudded to a stop as she gazed, her vast blue eyes unblinking, so transfixed was she that she stared at the thing in Illumina's place.

A massive woman, at least eight storeys tall, was standing before them, sheathed in a close fitting lavender dress that fluttered in the faint wind that had picked up. She emitted an overwhelming aura of impossible, merciless power and maliciousness, and she had skin as pale as snow, twisting, writhing long red hair like thousands of snakes that flew around her face, which was contorted with fury, her wide onyx eyes like black flames, soulless, pure evil, making her think inexplicably of endless black tunnels that were filled with an eternity of pure hatred.

"What the f-" Knuckles began, but he cut himself off with a shout of denial as the monstrosity's writhing, lashing amount of hair shot forwards with a noise like a whip crack, twisting and jerking as it took on the shape of a massive hand that reached out with rigid fingers to the place where she was rooted to the spot in terror-

"Cosmo, _LOOK OUT!" _bellowed Tails, and from out of nowhere, he flung himself at her, his arms outstretched, a look of pure terror on his face as he shoved her out of the way of the streaking mass of flaming hair. For a second that was stretched into forever, her eyes locked onto Tails, her expression one of disbelieving denial, his of terror for her safety, mingling with the faintest trace of wondering at what was about to become of him, but then that second ended, time returned in the form of the monstrous woman that was Illumina's scream of triumph, and the flaming fingers clenched around Tails' form, jerking back towards the goddess, unrelenting as the fox writhed and twisted and roared for his release-

"_TAILS!" _shouted the Mobian's three companions, but before they could act, Illumina's hair had sprung back into place, her real hand clenched around Tails' form, her knuckles whitening as her grip tightened around him, causing him to shout with fear and pain, his bright blue eyes bright with tears of agony-

And then, with exaggerated slowness, Illumina raised her clenched fist towards her gaping hole of a mouth, a mouth that was stretching impossibly far to form a bottomless pit of death that she would deposit Tails in-

"_LET HIM GO!" _screamed Amy, and in a whirl of her dress she, Sonic and Knuckles had vanished, gone in a flash of pink light and reappearing instantly above the goddess' head, Sonic once more a blazing gold, no more distinct that a shooting star, his form shaking with uncontained rage, Amy a bright, furious silver, Knuckles like a blood splatter against the endless stretch of swirling space. Cosmo watched as the three of them streaked downwards, Amy's massive hammer, enhanced with silver flames, held over her shoulder, Sonic curled into an tight bull of absolute fury, Knuckles shouting, _"SHOVEL CLAW!"_, the fist pulled over his shoulder obscured by a lethal, iron grey claw. Her eyes followed their progress as they came within feet of the goddess' flaming head, but then an ear-splitting crack like an uneartheal rent the air, a force field of translucent, crackling black formed a half sphere above her head, and with a cannon blast of sound, the forms of the downfall, sacrifice and Knuckles the Echidna were blasted through the air, Amy and Knuckles landing with resounding thuds on the jewelled platform, Sonic somehow landing on his feet, but instantly collapsing in a dark blue heap beside his friends.

As they landed, all the sound seemed to have been sucked from the room, just like the hopes for the universe's salvation. Cosmo saw them land, but did not care. She had not registered anything since Illumina had lashed out and taken Tails, yanking him towards her, towards his death-

_It's hopeless, _the hollow, dead voice of her determination rang through her frozen mind. _Sonic and Amy and Knuckles will be dead soon, if they aren't already, and Illumina's got Tails, she's going to kill him first-_

But then, quite abruptly, a virtual tidal wave of furious denial rose up inside of Cosmo, and she remembered the vow she had made to herself back in Nature Zone, about stopping Illumina at all costs, even if that meant sacrificing her life to do so. And it was with that thought that a wordless scream of utmost anger was wrenched from her lips, and suddenly, her entire world had vanished in favour of blinding white light, and she found, inexplicably, that her hands were on her ruby red amulet, which was emanating warmth and light such as it never had before.

_Cosmo._

Her name sounded throughout the white oblivion, spoken in the soft, sighing voice of her mother, Earthia.

"M-mother?" she whispered, all of her anger melting out of her as she stared with wide, unblinking eyes into the whiteness before her. "Is that...y-you?"

_Yes, _her mother answered, and Cosmo's heart jerked painfully inside her chest, tears pricking in the corner of her eyes.

"I miss you!" Cosmo wailed, as her tears poured over her cheeks, her whole form shaking violently, her legs threatening to give way beneath her.

_As I miss you, _whispered Earthia, her voice as soft as a spring breeze. _But before we are reunited, you must complete one final task, Cosmo. Do you have the strength to do it?_

As her mother's plan filled her mind, Cosmo's sense of weakness, of helplessness, vanished completely. She wiped the tears from her eyes, her resolve solidifying for the time being, and she knew that she had to act fast if she wished to keep it from cracking once more.

"I do," she confirmed, her mouth set, her eyes sparkling with determination.

_Then go, _whispered Earthia, and her mother's presence faded, as did the white light that was surrounding her. As the remains of the Temple of Light revealed itself to her, she felt her amulet grow incredibly hot and, unable to take the strain of the heat, it cracked open, pillars of soft green light bursting out of it.

Cosmo felt herself changing, transforming; the red, unblossomed flowers atop her head suddenly bloomed into delicate pink roses, and her dark jade hair, having been short all her life, lightened and lengthened at once, until it fell to her waist, a curtain of soft green that sparkled faintly. She felt the weakness that Void had induced in her after draining her of energy vanish, replaced by a surge of strength that allowed her to sprint across the jewelled platform they were standing on, streaking towards where Sonic, Amy and Knuckles were lying splayed near the edge, fast enough to ensure that Illumina would catch her but careful to let the goddess see that she was on the move.

As she rocketed to a halt before the unconscious Mobians, she placed her hands on Sonic and Amy's foreheads, and their eyes flew open as abruptly as if she had screamed in their ears.

"Cosmo?" Amy whispered dazedly, blinking up at her in confusion. "W-what happened to your hair?"

"That's not important," Cosmo whispered, pulling Amy to her feet while Sonic leapt to his, looking alert, tense, his bright green eyes narrowing as Illumina unleashed a roar of displeasure, evidently seeing that she had revived Sonic and Amy. Cosmo did not turn when she heard the unmistakable sound of flesh hitting stone and assumed that Illumina had released Tails.

"Listen," Cosmo said urgently, and Sonic and Amy's eyes snapped back to hers, Amy's fearful and Sonic's narrowed, darting between her and Illumina. "Lure Illumina away from the Precious Stone, and when I say, _'now' _attack her with the strongest thing you've got!"

"But what are you going to do?" Amy whispered fearfully, and Sonic's bright eyes probed the Seedrian, who kept her face smooth as she lied, "Nothing. I have a plan, but it will only work if it's timed perfectly."

From far behind them, Illumina screeched, a wild, out of control sound that made Cosmo shiver involuntarily, and she cried, "Go!"

For the briefest second, Sonic's eyes locked onto hers, and she thought that he saw through her bright blue eyes, right to through to guess what her plan was, but as he opened his mouth to speak, she turned and ran away from him, her eyes upon the Precious Stone, her mouth set in a determined line. As she scaled the steps to the stone altar, she saw Sonic, a golden streak once more, flash past her, and on her other side, the silver blur that was Amy racing to meet the colossal being that was Illumina. Cosmo came to a gasping halt directly beneath the Precious Stone, and, closing her eyes, she willed herself upwards, desiring nothing more than to float in the air beside the Stone, to touch it...

She knew what contact with it would mean, Lumina had told her that. That was exactly why she had fought so hard to warn Sonic against touching it, for it would mean the end of his life...

As she drifted to a halt before the prismatic white surface, staring death right in the face, reluctance cracked through her iron wall of composure for the first time. This, she knew, was the only way to ensure that Illumina could be killed, for, if she held on long enough, her forfeited life would act as a trigger to explode the Stone, the key to Illumina's power, without which she would be mortal, albeit an incredibly bitter one. But if she sacrificed her life, it would mean that she would never see Sonic or Amy or Knuckles or, most importantly, Tails, ever again. She remembered how it had felt when Tails had kissed her, how wonderful it had been, a blissful oblivion devoid or fear or pain, and she had hoped, in that brief moment of happiness, that they would all get through Maginaryworld alive, that she could return to Mobius with the others, and be with Tails for years and years, until her time had truly come...

_But it's come now, _whispered her conscience, not allowing her to consider turning her back on her mother's plan. _You may not like it, but you must embrace it._

_What if I don't want to? _She retaliated fiercely, dominated by her heart's desire.

_Then you are being selfish, _her conscious replied simply, and Cosmo's eyes widened at the truth of the realization. For the past three years, every time she visited a planet had been an act of selfishness, a desire to preserve her own life, placing it above those of millions of others who had no reason to die.

Now was the time to redeem herself.

Cosmo's eyes flew open, and before her heart could provide her with another chance to delay, she reached out and pressed both hands against the Precious Stone.

It was as if her blood had turned to venom, agonizing flames that tore through her arms and consumed her entire body in its grip of unrelenting pain, filling her with lava and acid and lightning and the torture she had endured while Void made Tails writhe and twist and scream on the altar so far below her. Every ion of her body screamed for release, pleading for her to remove her hands, but Cosmo kept them there, knowing that in doing so, she was cleaning her bloodstained past, that her suffering was all in the name of greater good-

And then the pain climaxed, an agony past endurance that not even iron-clad resolve could compete with; Cosmo felt her body be released from the pain explode into a million delicate pink flower petals, felt the Precious Stone shatter beneath her hands, and then, suddenly, she was standing in the middle of a forest, soft green light filtering through the canopy of leaves that hung above her. She knew from the serene twittering of birds sounded from the treetops, the gentle bubbling of a stream emanating from somewhere on her right, the gentle caress of wind on her cheeks, that she had gone to a place where no one could follow her, but at the moment she did not care.

For someone had stepped out from behind a nearby tree, someone much taller than she, her long hair pastel blue, her eyes the exact same of blue that her were, a flowing white and blue dress sheathing her. Earthia spread her arms wide, a sad smile upon her face, displaying mingling pride and sorrow, and in her soft, whisper of a voice, she whispered, "Cosmo."

"Mother!" she screamed, joyous tears pouring down her face, and she flung herself into Earthia's arms, her tears wetting her dress, feeling a terrible happiness seep through her.

_Goodbye, Tails, _she thought, as her mother held her at arm's length, beaming. _I'll never forget you._

Sonic did not suspect that the sudden explosion of rainbow light that occurred above him was linked to Tails' agonized scream of, _"NO!" _He did not have room for anything in his head but concentration on feeding hi raw sense of power into his index fingers, which he had pressed together once more and was pointing at Illumina, his teeth bared. The goddess, unbelievably, had frozen, her gaunt black eyes huge with terror, staring at something high above him, her mouth open in a silent scream of disbelief. But then, she was wrenched back into reality by Amy's wordless cry, and suddenly, with a noise like a bomb exploding, she had slammed her overlarge hammer onto the ground, and sent a column of silver flames streaking towards the monstrosity towering above them, losing her silverness to it and letting out a jubilant scream as it hit Illumina squarely in the face.

Illumina was flung backwards, her head tilted back, arms outstretched, but her shriek of pain was drowned out by Sonic's shout of, "CHAOS CONTROL!"

At long last, the Chaos Emeralds had finished feeding their power into his hands, which could not hold any more energy, and so he unleashed a mass of golden flame from his fingertips, a roaring supernova of raw force that echoed all his fury with the vile woman before him. It slammed into Illumina with resounding finality, and the moment it did so, all the sound was sucked from the room in a fraction of a millisecond, swarming into where Illumina was frozen in mid air, her demonic face blank with shock, and then she exploded into a million glittering particles that mingled with onyx black smoke, her final scream tearing through Sonic's mind, the sound of it as good as victory bells.

They had done it, he and Amy had killed Illumina, and Cosmo's prediction had not come true, neither of them had lost their lives in this final battle with her-

"YES!" Amy screamed, appearing beside him in a burst of pink light, her face transported with shining glee, and she flung herself at him, shaking with joy. _"YES, YES, YES!"_

Sonic let out a burst of laughter, and he hugged Amy to his chest, spinning her around, loosing himself in wild happiness, unable to get past the fact that they had done it, finally done it, gotten revenge upon the woman who had claimed the lives of thousands-

"_COSMO!"_

Tails' agonized shout tore them away from their isolated bubble, and he and Amy exchanged looks of pure terror, both knowing that physical pain could not cause someone to scream in that much agony-

They sprinted towards the altar where Tails was lying collapsed, his whole form heaving with sobs as Knuckles stood over him, looking nauseated as he patted the fox on the back. The two of them were standing amongst an odd mixture of two substances, of what looked like a million shards of purest white glass and a maelstrom of flower petals that were still floating down around them. It did not take Sonic more than a second to notice Cosmo's absence, and though he knew the reason behind it, suspected it's occurrence when he looked into her eyes for the last time, he would not believe it until solid proof was displayed before him.

"Where is she?" he asked, and Knuckles looked up, not needing to ask who Sonic was referring to.

"Dead," he croaked, and Sonic felt as though an icy sword had been plunged into his heart. Amy gave a weak sort of moan and collapsed beside Tails, hugging him, as a river of tears flowed from her eyes.

Knuckles did not need to continue, but he did, his voice choked with remorse. "She knew something we didn't," he said quietly, looking Sonic straight in the face. "She knew that to kill Illumina, she had to shatter the Precious Stone. I watched her do it," the echidna bowed his head, unable to look Sonic in the eye as he continued, "The Precious Stone was destroyed, but so was she," he waved a hand at the flower petals that were fluttering around them, and Sonic jumped inadvertedly as they alighted upon him, startled with the realization that the remains of their friend were floating down around him.

Illumina was gone, but so was Cosmo, both to a place they could not touch the living. But Sonic had never wanted the goddess to return to life more, for he knew that if she did, so would Cosmo, and the Seedrian's return was something he was willing to trade Illumina's return to life for.

A low, rumbling roar tore Sonic away from his grief, and he looked up just as the stone altar beneath them shuddered violently, causing him to stagger forwards. The jewelled platform surrounding them fell away, breaking into fragments that plunged into space, leaving the altar floating unsupported in mid-air. But the crumbling platform was the least of his worries; the space that had been surrounding them had become a swirling vortex of colour, lavender and cyan punctuated by streaks of blinding white, and a horrible, keening scream was renting the silence apart, clawing at his ears with rigid fingers.

Then the mass of colour became Nature Zone, wild and green and full of life, but it vanished instantly, in favour of Emerald Coast, deceptively serene with its pale sand and azure sky-

Fire Bird replaced the beach, streaking airship of wood and ruby that sped through the cloud streaked sky, transforming instantly into Riot Train, the indigo giant rocketing forwards on a chaotic route to nowhere, followed instantly by Fourth Dimension Space, with its swirling multicoloured clouds and strange constellations-

The worlds flashed by at an impossible, sickening speed, and Sonic could not watch it for fear of throwing up. But he knew, somehow, what was happening, and was equally certain that if they remained in Maginaryworld a second longer, Illumina's dearest wish was about to come true-

"The worlds are merging!" he shouted over the keening scream of the wind, and he saw Knuckles' eyes widen, while Amy leapt to her feet, her hair flying around her terrified face. "Amy, can you-?"

"_NO!" _screamed Tails, throwing his head up to the flashing heavens, an expression of demented sorrow upon his face. As Knuckles pulled the fox to his feet, he sensed what was about to happen and fought violently to be free, shouting, "NO, I WON'T LEAVE YOU, _NO, _COSMO!"

But Amy ignored Tails' agonized protests, and she made the remains of Maginaryworld dissolve in favour of a familiar, blindingly pink light. Sonic had the impression of rocketing upwards at a speed only he could achieve, and then, quite abruptly as it had began, it stopped, and the pink smoke dissolved in favour of the rolling green hills of Mystic Valley. The sky was a crystalline blue, and the sun hung untroubled in the sky, but it may as well have been snowing for all the warmth it gave him.

The joy of their return to Mobius, of Illumina's destruction, had been marred eternally by Cosmo's death.

Amy let out a soft sigh as she closed the door to Tails' workshop behind her. She gazed unseeingly up at the crescent silver moon, up into the star strewn, night time sky, and felt, for the first time all week, glad at their return to Mobius.

None of them were likely to ever get over Cosmo's death, and none more unlikely than Tails, who seemed unlikely to ever speak again. Wailing incoherently, he had refused to move from the place where they had landed for several hours, while Sonic and Knuckles rushed into his workshop and stripped it of anything that may have helped the fox join Cosmo, and then, they and Amy had taken it upon themselves to drag the fox into the house.

Soon he had lapsed into silence, his eyes tinged with red, and despite Sonic's frequent attempts to get him to speak, he would not.

Amy was now living with Tails temporarily – or possibly permanently, it depended how soon Tails showed signs of recovery. She was in charge of housekeeping, of cooking and cleaning and providing Tails with company. She had only taken the job because Sonic had, somehow, explained it irresistibly, and she now suspected that he had only put it like that because he and Knuckles had no desire of becoming Tails' maid.

In fact, she was only leaving now because Knuckles had decided to come to her rescue and relieve her of her job for the night. Of course, this meant that she was now on guard duty for the Master Emerald, dull work that required a lot of sleeping, and so it was slightly grudgingly that Amy trudged off towards the place she knew Angel Island to be.

She had barely taken two steps, however, when the air rushed past her with unnatural speed, and something knocked out the back of her legs, causing her to scream in surprise as she fell back towards the ground.

But before she could hit it, a furry arm caught her, and suddenly Sonic's smiling face was obscuring the moon, looking so pleased with himself that he should have been arrested.

"Don't scare me like that!" Amy protested, but she let out a breathless laugh and then murmured, "Hi."

Sonic merely winked in response, and the next thing she knew, he was sprinting away with her in his arms, not towards Angel Island, but towards Emerald Coast.

Amy barely had enough time to catch her breath, let alone contemplate his unexplained appearance, when they had hurtled to a stop at the deserted, moonlit beach. The silver fragment of the orb whose power she possessed leached the sand of its colour, and the ocean was a lapping mass of velvety black. Sonic set her on her feet, radiating smugness, and Amy gazed about while déjà vu hit her like a punch in the face.

The last time she had been here with Sonic was on a date, a date on which they had been on the verge of kissing when they had been violently interrupted by Void. But her feeling of bitter reminiscence vanished as she realized that Void was gone, gone to a place where he could no longer hurt them, a place where he and Illumina and Lumina would never bother them again.

A faint blush crept into her cheeks as she turned to stare at Sonic, wondering if, to her extreme embarrassment, he was intending to take up where they had left off.

For the briefest second, Sonic stared back at her, an oddly hungry look in his eyes, and the next thing she knew, he was upon her, his lips crushing against hers with gentle insistency, and her arms were around his neck, his hands were on her hips, and everything in the world was gone except for the hedgehog she was intertwined with-

But suddenly, Sonic broke away from her, striding away to look out towards the water, breathing heavily, his gloved hands clutching at his quills.

"What's – wrong?" she demanded, in between deep gulps of air.

"I can't do this!" Sonic exclaimed, his back still turned to her, his head still in his hands.

"Why not?" Amy asked, her heart pounding in her ears as she gazed imploringly at Sonic's back.

"He'd kill me if he ever found out," Sonic whispered, and suddenly he had whirled around, one hand clutching at her wrist with painful insistency. He was no longer Sonic, but Void, his terrifying amethyst-sapphire eyes boring into hers, emerald hair curtaining his face. Amy was too startled to scream, and Void's whisper seemed to shatter through the icy silence that had fallen upon them with the force of a bomb.

"You were to be my wife," he whispered, withdrawing a magnificent diamond ring from his swirling sapphire robes.

Amy awoke with a terrified scream, sitting bolt upright, her chest heaving wildly, eyes huge with shock. To her bewilderment, she saw herself sitting in Tails' living room, upon his squashy yellow couch. Sunlight was pouring in from the windows, and she knew from the slightly pink tinge of the sky that it was just after dawn.

"Amy?"

With a cry of surprise she leapt off the couch, whirling around with her hand flying to her throat, but, to her relief, she saw Tails sitting in the armchair across from her, his eyebrows raised in confusion.

"T-Tails!" she stammered, trying to slow down the frantic pounding of her heart. "S-sorry...I just...had a nightmare."

"I guessed that much," Tails answered, and he looked to be on the verge of smiling when he seemed to remember something, and he gesture towards the television beside him. "Look at this."

Amy stared obediently at the screen, and what she saw managed to wipe every thought of Void from her mind.

The screen showed several burning buildings, towering skyscrapers billowing with choking black smoke and angry orange tongues of fire. The camera was surveying the destruction from a helicopter's point of view, and a news reporter was saying, "....fourth attack on Mobius City this week. The prime suspect of the attacks is none other than , whose whereabouts are currently unknown. Anyone with any information is being implored to call the police. For Mobius City news, I'm -"

But Tails shut off the television before the reporter could give their name. Amy felt sick with anger; they killed one maniac and another one just sprung up to take their place. "We have to do something," she said, struggling to keep her voice calm.

Tails nodded in agreement, an expectance smile upon his face. "Now you're talking my language," he said, clapping a hand on her shoulder. As Amy smiled up at him, she was seized with a desire to comfort the fox, to convey a small portion of her empathy to him in regards to Cosmo's death.

"Tails," she muttered, her voice ringing with sincerity. "I'm so sorry...about Cosmo..."

"I know," Tails responded, and a pained look flashed across his face. For a moment, he stood there, the fox's eyes sparkling with tears, but then they hardened, and he said in a shaking voice, "But I can't keep moping around, especially not with Eggman wrecking havoc again." He pulled his hand off of her shoulder suddenly, his eyes alight with the manic inspiration she was used to inhabiting them.

"C'mon!" he shouted over his shoulder as he tore down the hallway. Feeling slightly overwhelmed at this abrupt change in emotions, Amy followed him at a run, and, not to her surprise, found that they had arrived in his garage.

"Get in!" Tails cried, as he hopped into the Tornado, the cockpit open. Amy hesitated, sceptical, and for a fraction of a second, she debated about the likeliness of Tails purposely crashing the plane, but then decided that the chance was next to nothing.

Wordlessly, she pulled herself up into the cockpit with Tails' help, and the glass roof descended upon them, locking into position with a pneumatic hiss. There was a loud roar, the sound somewhat muffled by the thick layer of glass that separated them from the outside world, and then the plane was rolling forwards, streaking out through the opening that had appeared in the garage wall. The propeller no more distinct than a silver blur, the Tornado, under Tails' guidance, rose up into the air, and Amy was pinned to her seat by the speed of their takeoff.

When their chaotically fast pace slowed somewhat, Amy slumped forwards in her seat, gasping for breath.

"Where are we going?" Amy asked when she could speak, unable to fathom their destination.

Tails turned in his seat to answer her, but suddenly, there was a shrill, electronic beeping from the front of the plane, and his head snapped back around with an almost audible click.

Amy leaned forwards to look over his shoulder as Tails punched a button beneath a square monitor, and then Sonic's face was staring up at them, looking unsurprised to find that Tails had emerged from his catatonic state.

"Tails, Eggman's got Cream and Cheese!" Sonic wasted no time in breaking the news to them, and both Amy and Tails gasped in surprise.

"How do you know?" Tails demanded, his shoulders tensing as he guided the plane into a right turn.

"He sent me some stupid taunting message," Sonic rolled his eyes at the memory of it. "Anyways, I've got it under control. You get back to the workshop, I'll see you back there."

"What?" Tails yelled in bewilderment. "No way!"

"We're coming to help you, Sonic!" Amy agreed fervently, and Sonic jumped, unaware of her presence until then.

She had known that something was wrong as soon as he had told Tails to go back to the workshop. She was equally sure that the fox had no intention of listening to Sonic. As the fox opened his mouth to speak, Sonic cut across him.

"Look," he said flatly. "Do you think that after Illumina, I'll have any trouble with handling Eggman? He's a cinch compared to her." As both Tails and Amy opened their mouths to retort, Sonic flashed them a wink and said, "See ya around, guys." before cutting the connection.

Tails sighed and leaned back in his seat, while Amy remained perched by his shoulder.

"We're still going after him, right?" she asked, and Tails, in an almost exasperated voice, answered, "Of course!"

Amy smiled and leaned back in her seat, an expectant smile lighting her face. After all the drama Maginaryworld had caused them, she was practically yearning for a faceoff with Eggman that could only be solved by Tails smarts, Sonic's speed, a couple of gadgets, and a B&E. Her smile widened as she realized that that was what they were probably about to get.

"What do you think he meant by saying that he had everything under control?" Amy asked Tails, for the question was still gnawing at the back of her mind.

Tails did not answer, or maybe he did and she just didn't hear it, for at that moment, two jet black streaks whizzed past them, each the size of fighter jets, and a second later, a rumbling sonic boom raced after them.

"What the hell was that?" she cried, as Tails swore violently, his hands wrapping around the steering wheel.

"Put your seatbelt on!" he snapped, as if such a thing were important. "We've got company."


	14. Infiltration

Before Amy could do more than register the fact that Tails had spoken, the fox had pummelled an unobtrusive blue button and the Tornado flashed forwards at a speed to rival Sonic's. Amy would have screamed, but she was pinned to her seat by G force, her cheeks ballooning with air as the sky and clouds ran together to form a pastel blue – white streak. A seagull appeared to be flying backwards as they rocketed beneath it, and it was then that the two black streaks shot past them, both turned on their sides, neon blue flames spewing out of their exhaust tank.

And then, Tails pulled the Tornado into a steep vertical climb, so that they were parallel with the clouds, lost in a world of opaque white-

Without so much as a word to Amy, he pulled out of their incline, slowing down slightly and allowing them to skim the top of the clouds, the green expanse of rolling hills invisible beneath the white canopy. Amy let out a startled cry and fell face-first onto the cold metal floor of the plane, her whole body heaving as she gasped for breath.

"Get up, get up!" Tails shouted in panic, turning the steering wheel with such ferocity that the Tornado preformed a full circle before rocketing towards the east. Muttering angrily to herself, Amy peeled her face off the ground and slammed herself her chair, irritably clasping her seatbelt across her chest, and not a moment too soon. The two black fighter jets shot past them once more, slower this time, and Amy caught sight of the crude yellow profile spray painted onto either of the unknown aircrafts' wings.

Eggman had known they were coming. Sonic had been right to tell them to stay away.

Suddenly, Tails made the Tornado roll over in mid air, and Amy was clinging to the leather seat she was strapped to for dear life as the vehicle spun end over end, the floor was the ceiling and the sky was the ground, the Tornado was a mass of shrill electronic beeping and dull sonic booms-

"TRANSFORM!" Tails yelled suddenly, jamming his finger onto an unlabelled green button.

Amy, feeling as if she were on the verge of throwing up, asked bewilderedly, "Tails, I really don't think-"

But she cut herself off with a scream as the cockpit was filled with a mechanical whirring. She had the confused impression of rocketing upwards, flashing red lights and moving backwards, and suddenly, she was above Tails, her seat raised like a pedestal, surrounded by a counter of multicoloured buttons and blaring monitors screaming numbers and readouts at her.

Tails, who had clearly not been talking to her at all, had obviously found time to make some changes to the Tornado, changes he must have made during their week back from Maginaryworld, an impressive feat considering that Sonic had been spending most of every day with him, trying without success to cheer him up.

"Amy, you see that joystick in front of you?"Tails shouted up at her, while pulling out what looked like half 3-D glasses, half a headset and clamping it on his face. Amy looked wildly at the mass of technology before her, and spotted a thin black device topped with a red button.

"Yeah?" she called down at him, reaching towards the device.

"Press the red button when I saw 'now'!" Tails yelled, swerving to avoid one of the black jets, which had risen out of nowhere in attempt to block their path, its tinted black cockpit glinting in the sunlight.

Amy wrapped one hand around the joystick, her thumb hovering inches from the button, ready to pummel it at a second's notice. The black jets were circling them now, rocketing around so fast that Tails could not hope to escape, but the thing about being best friends with Sonic the Hedgehog meant that you learned to escape from places where it should have been impossible.

Once more they were rocketing in a vertical ascent, speeding towards the sun, and Amy was deafened by the roar of the engine, of the sonic booms that blasted off of Eggman's jets, she couldn't see, she couldn't think, and then Tails bellowed, "NOW!"

She slammed her thumb against the tiny red button at the same moment they burst out of the cover of the clouds; she heard sinister whizzing noises occur behind her, followed by a flash of brightest blue light, a high pitched, keening electronic scream and then, with the force of an atomic bomb exploding, seven somethings slammed into the back of the Tornado, bringing with them bone rattling jolts and flashes of fire.

Tails' shout of denial was lost as his plane shuddered to a violent, mid-air halt, and then they were plummeting through the clouds once more, the propeller spinning feebly as they rocketed in a nose dive towards their deaths. Over her terrified screams, Amy heard a computerized voice blaring, "Fatal error! Fatal error!" saw the intense, burning flames that had erupted at the Tornado's tail flickering in the glass of the cockpit, and, as she clutched at the arm rests of her leather seat, she knew that she was about to die.

"_EJECT! EJECT!" _Tails was shouting, but Amy could not make sense of his command, not knowing whether he was expecting her to know what to do or yelling at the plane. The next thing she knew, however, was the howling, chaotic roaring of speed-induced winds, and then she, chair and all, had been flung through the open cockpit as if from a spring, speeding through the air, screaming in bewilderment as she slowly came to a halt. But before she plummeted earthwards, she heard the whoosh of an opening parachute, saw a flash of yellow fabric, and then she was floating down to the ground at an almost serene pace, a pace that did not do justice to all that had just happened.

Through terrified eyes, she watched as the Tornado, trailing thick black smoke, blazing with fire, spiralled down to the ground, and suddenly, she remembered him, the friend with whom she had been flying in the doomed plane-

"TAILS!" she screamed, her huge eyes widening in horror as she realized that, in order to save her, the fox had sacrificed his own life.

"Relax!"

With a scream Amy turned in her seat, and to her immense relief, she saw Tails hovering beside her, his two tails spinning out behind him as he descended carefully towards the ground. Breathing a sigh of relief, she whispered, "I thought...I thought you were-"

"I thought we were gonners," Tails nodded in a agreement, a bittersweet smile playing about his mouth "But those missiles we launched at those jets...they were heat seekers, and what with the close proximity we had to them," Tails shook his head in disbelieving awe. "They must have had some pretty powerful reflectors to make them turn back on us."

A dull boom sounded from somewhere far below them, and Amy knew that the Tornado had just hit the ground. Tails winced, pain etched upon his face, and she muttered, "Sorry, Tails."

The fox shook his head meticulously, only his eyes betraying his pain. "It's not your fault!" he said hurriedly. "Those missiles we launched at them – well, put it this way, they weren't your everyday fireworks, and the energy it would have cost them to deflect them..." Tails trailed off, looking both disturbed and awed at what he was envisioning.

Amy cleared her throat in attempt to remind him that she did not share his interest in technology, and asked, "Why do you think those planes came after us?"

Tails did not wave the question away, though she knew it was a stupid one. "Eggman must have known we were coming and sent them to greet us," he said darkly, a shadow passing over his face. "Dammit, if only I coulda tracked where they came from, we'd know where his base is!"

Amy raised her eyebrows in confusion. "I thought you knew where his base was?"

To her surprise, Tails went bright red, his eyes averted, and then, in a falsely bright and cheery voice, he said, "Hey, great job on sending those missiles so quickly, if you didn't I'm sure-"

"Tails," Amy cut across his babbling in a warning voice, her suspicions aroused. "What aren't you telling me?"

As the fox raised his head to meet her gaze, something seemed to go out behind them as he realized that she was not about to let the subject drop. Taking a deep breath, he said, "I traced Sonic's call, and it came from inside Eggman's base," as Amy's eyes widened in incredulity, his became agonized as he continued.

"Amy, he's got him, and I think it must be bad, otherwise he wouldn't have told us to stay away."

Amy sat back against her seat, stiff and unmoving, her eyes wide with horror as Tails' words rang through her mind like the echo of the Tornado exploding, not noticing as they hit the ground, her parachute falling down around them.

Sonic, in all his years of antagonizing Eggman, had never, ever been held at gunpoint by him. Sure, his robots may have opened fire upon him, but that was what they were built to do. It was different when you were chained to a titanium wall with iron clamps around your wrists and ankles, trapped in a safe – like room with half a dozen red laser sights trained upon your forehead.

Eggman sat before him, his long fingers steepled in front of his face, sitting with one leg crossed over the other in a black padded swivel chair. Dozens of monitors sat perched on the wall behind the doctor, but Eggman was too intent upon Sonic to pay attention to what was happening on them.

"So," Eggman began a sneer in his voice. "Time's almost up. Where are your little friends?"

Sonic smiled at his nemesis, hate boiling up behind his mask. "They aren't going to come, Eggman. I kinda told them not to."

Eggman smirked, raising one long, white-gloved index finger. "Ahhh. But if there was any way to _ensure _their coming, it would be to tell them _not _to come. Am I right?"

Sonic shrugged, not in the mood – was he ever? – to endure one of Eggman's rants.

The doctor did not seem to need a reply; he continued as if Sonic had said 'yes'.

"So if young Tails and Amy are on their way – which they undoubtedly are – you are clearly hoping that they will spring you free, and then aid you in your defeat of me?"

_Ah, so that's where this is going. _Sonic sighed mentally; the doctor was intending to rub in his face just how impossible escape was

Eggman did not wait for a reply. He stood up and gestured to his monitors. "As soon as your pathetic sidekicks enter my base, a silent alarm will go off, alerting me of their presence, as well as their showing up on my monitors.

"Hearing no alarm, your little fox friend will undoubtedly go to the moon with joy at his sneaking them in without detection. Little do they know my guards will have been dispatched and sent to 'greet' them."

Eggman's eyes flashed behind his glasses, and he began pacing back and forth, evidentially ecstatic at his brilliance.

"If, for conversations' sake, your friends manage to escape my guards without suffering gunshot wounds-" Sonic raised his eyebrows, and Eggman smiled hugely, revealing caffeine-stained teeth. "They will find themselves faced with several technological obstructions that your friend Tails may find impossible to overcome.

"But say they overcome those, too. They will find themselves up against my spies, and good luck to them to overcome _those _particular people.

"Say they evade capture from my spies. Amy and Tails will be outside this very room, which is protected by a six foot-thick titanium vault-like door. Your friends will need to enter a password to get the door to open, and will only have one shot at it, because, one, my spies and guards will have caught up to them by then, two, my computers will have recognized a false password and laser cannons will have blasted them to smithereens, and three, I will have seen them outside via my monitors and will have captured them myself.

"But pretend," Sonic was barely even listening anymore, "that the fools get the password correct on the first try, are faster than my spies and guards and I happen to be looking away from the monitors and they get in the room. They will find themselves with guns trained upon them and up against me, of course."

Sonic realized that Eggman was done speaking and snorted, "Well, we wouldn't want that to happen. How can Tails and Amy hope to overcome _you?"_

Eggman turned an ugly purple colour, and a vein pulsed in his temple. "How indeed?" he hissed, eyes narrowed, hands folded behind his back.

"So now that we're done with all that, what do you want from us?" Sonic demanded, fixing Eggman with a hard look.

To his surprise, Eggman laughed. "Now _that_ is a question I've been waiting for you to ask me all day.

"My spies have told me that you and your rosy friend have certain...magical abilities? That helped you defeat an immensely powerful goddess and nearly as powerful consorts?"

Sonic heart pounded fear through his veins, consuming him like a virus. _Who could have told him that? Void and Lumina are dead...or are they? No, they've gotta be...Knuckles? But he said ' spies', there's gotta be one more at least..._

He felt as though the answer was dangling just out of reach, lurking in the shadows of his mind. Eggman, apparently content with the effect he had produced, taunted, "It's not who you think it is, Sonic! You'll _never _guess who they are!"

"Where are Cream and Cheese?" the question was out before Sonic could stop himself.

Eggman stumbled in his pacing, and he began mouthing silently to himself. Then, coming to himself, "Why would I tell you? You cannot help them, trapped as you are..."

Sonic sank into silence, pondering the reaction his question had caused. _It obviously means something. But what?_

As Sonic stared up at the wicked man above him, who had returned to his swivel chair and was drumming his fingers on his knees, and knew he would be hard pressed to find out.

Amy made no reply, or perhaps her response was muffled by the parachute that was descending upon them like a fog. Tails groped out and found Amy's arm, which he squeezed gently. "C'mon, Amy," he said in a muffled voice. "We won't be able to save him under here!"

At long last, Amy moved; Tails heard her seatbelt click and then she stood up, allowing Tails to grasp her loosely by the hand as they fought to get out from beneath the parachute. Finally, they emerged, and Tails released Amy's hands at once, scouring their surrounds.

They were about a hundred feet away from the flaming mass of smoke and twisted metal that was the remains of the Tornado. A painful lump rose into his throat as he stared at the plane, but he promptly turned away, knowing from experience that dwelling on things that happened in the past would not bring what he had lost back to life.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Tails saw that they were at the edge of a massive green forest, so dense that he could not see past the first few feet of it. He felt absolutely certain that Eggman's base lay in its shadowy depths, and he made to stride towards it when the loud roar of two engines made him spin around in alarm.

The two black fighter jets were descending out of the air some two hundred feet away, blue flames flickering from their exhausts, looking as pristine as ever. The Eggman insignia spray painted onto both of the jets' wings glinted ominously in the sunlight, and Tails knew that whoever was inside them was more than capable of pursuing them on foot.

"RUN!" he shouted, grabbing Amy's arm and sprinting towards the cover of the forest, while the roar of the engines died behind them. They did not turn to see who was emerging but ducking under vines and around fallen trunks, dodging around trees and tearing through bushes.

A stabbing pain in his side, Tails staggered to a halt, releasing Amy's arm, but she continued to sprint forwards, her hammer swinging furiously through the air as she fought her way through the a clump of thorns, mad desperation upon her face.

"Amy," Tails gasped out, his hands on his knees. "Stop – running. We've gotta...make a....plan!"

"NO!" Amy shouted, whirling around, her chest heaving, her dark eyes sparkling with furious tears. "I CAN'T! WE NEED TO RESCUE SONIC! BECAUSE – BECAUSE –"

But she collapsed into tears, sagging forwards as hopelessness crashed over her. Tails rushed over and caught her before she could fall, patting her very gingerly on the back. "It's ok," he said in a low voice. "We're still gonna go after him, we just-"

His reassurances died in his throat as a figure landed heavily before them, plummeting out of the trees to stand before them. Amy screamed and whirled around, her hammer held horizontally across her body, but the figure's hand lashed out, clamping itself over her mouth to stifle the noise.

"Relax," Knuckles said, slowly lowering his hand, his deep purple eyes sparkling with amusement. "It's just me."

But Tails was not comforted by Knuckles' words, for a startling possibility had just occurred to him. Could Knuckles have been flying one of those fighter jets?

Tails took an automatic step back, his hands curling into fists, and in a low, accusing voice, he snarled, "Were you flying one of those planes?"

Knuckles' dark eyes roved over Tails' tense defensive position, and they flashed as he listened to his accusation.

"Never again," the echidna vowed, his low voice ringing with truthfulness. "Eggman will never trick me to work for him again."

Convinced by the sincerity in his friends' tone, the defiant flames flickering in his eyes, Tails relaxed out of his tense position just as Amy asked, "Then how did you find us?"

Knuckles flashed a grin at her. "I saw you guys take off in the Tornado. And you couldn't expect the noise those fighter jets were making to go unnoticed, could you? I followed you guys. Where are you headed?"

At his words, Tails remembered that they had not yet located Eggman's base, having eluded the police for such a long time. He pulled out three comlinks from his tool belt and tossed one to both Amy and Knuckles while tapping fervently on his own. "And the location of Eggman's mysterious base is," he announced, eyes flashing with expectancy as he awaited the results of his scan. "NOWHERE?"

"But that's impossible!" Amy cried, while Tails goggled his comlink in incredulous disbelief; none of his machines had ever failed him before.

"Obviously, it's not," Tails growled, snapping his comlink shut. "I traced Sonic's call to roughly this area, but I guess old Eggy's got his hands on some cloaking device, that's how he's evaded capture this long."

He sighed, already beginning to formulate a plan in his mind, when a laugh rent the silence that had fallen upon them, a high, female voice that sounded strangely familiar, albeit with a distinct robotic counterpart.

"Are you surprised, Tails?" cried the voice, and Knuckles and Amy whirled around, their eyes wide with shock. "That you can't find Robotnik's base?"

There was the sound of heavy, stomping footsteps crushing twigs beneath them, and out of the foliage emerged two robots, one five feet tall, the other the size of a bird. The taller of the pair was comprised of amethyst purple metal, and it seemed to Tails that the metal casing served as body armour for the animal beneath it, which he would hazard a guess at the be a dog, what with its floppy ears, short tails and the shape of its body. It wore a race car-like helmet with a tinted black visor that had a tiny Eggman insignia branded on its side, and Tails knew that if they could only smash it, he could figure out who was beneath it.

Sitting on the dog's shoulder was what Tails thought looked like a baby monkey, clad in a metal suit of navy blue, a tinted black visor hiding its face from view. The monkey would have been entirely unremarkable if not for the fact that it had laser cannons for arms.

The dog saw Tails' sharp eyes flickering between it and its companion, and it cocked its head to the side. He was sure it was smiling at him.

"Put your hands in the air!" commanded the dog. "Do that and I may consider-"

"RUN!" Amy screamed, and in a whirl of her dress she was gone, sprinting as fast as she could away from the pair of robots. Tails and Knuckles followed her, their hearts pounding adrenaline through their veins as they sprinted through the vegetation, made a hundred times more difficult now that the monkey was shooting concentrated beams of white hot energy after them.

Tails' arms pumped back and forth, his two tails spinning like a propeller as they attempted to speed up his progress. The high-paced crunching of metal footsteps snapping twigs and trampling bushes, the chaotic sound of laser beams being fired, acted as the energy boost he needed to sprint past Knuckles and Amy to take the lead, the latter receiving hasty encouragement from Knuckles, for her breathing was coming the hardest, her face the most strained.

"You want to save Sonic, don't you?" grunted the echidna, dodging around a tree to avoid crashing into it. At his words, resolve solidified in Amy's dark green eyes, and with a pant of effort she flung herself into the lead, her bright pink form appearing blurred with speed.

Tails made no move to reclaim it from her, instead focusing on how they were going to lose the robots; air was out of the question, what with their jets, but they were no better off on land for machines did not tire out as animals did. The only thing he could think of was water, which would short circuit their suits, but the closest body of water was more than ten miles away.

_But we've gotta loose them soon, _Tails thought desperately, leaping over a low-lying vine. _What if we come across Eggman's base and they follow us in? Our cover will be totally ruined!_

But he was wrenched away from further planning by Amy's shrill cry of surprise; her foot had caught on a log that both he and Knuckles had leapt over and she sprawled heavily onto the ground.

"Amy!" Tails shouted, going too fast to slow down right away. He dug his heels into the soft ground and skidded to a halt beside Knuckles, who was in the act of running back towards their fallen friend. Just as Amy raised her head, shaking it experimentally, the circle of dirt she had landed in began to collapse inwards, seeping inside itself like a sinkhole.

"_No!" _roared Knuckles and he flung himself forwards, reaching desperately out towards Amy, but it was too late; with a scream she fell into the dark hole beneath her, but not before Knuckles had grabbed a hold of her hand and allowed himself to be pulled in after her. Tails threw himself after them, twisting himself into a corkscrew as he plunged into blackness.

He knew immediately that it was no ordinary hole; it felt air conditioned and as his arms skimmed the sides of it, he felt smooth metal, not soft dirt. He held himself rigid as he plunged through blackness, and then it brightened into unnatural whiteness.

A groan of pain escaped his lips as he landed hard on his stomach and a moan of, "Ow!" from beside him told him that Amy had not landed upright, either.

Before he relaxed, Tails stared around at their new surroundings, feeling certain that guards should be bearing down upon them. But the hallway was deserted; the metallic silver walls were lined with whisper-silent, key-card protected doors, but there were no alarms blaring, no angry robots rolling towards them.

Feeling that they were safe for the moment, Tails got to his feet, and he saw that Knuckles alone had managed not to fall down, and his superior smile was bordering on illegality.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Amy moaned, getting to her feet and looking distraught. "I've ruined everything!"

"Don't worry Amy," Tails said suddenly, a huge smile spreading across his face. "We're exactly where we want to be."

And he pointed behind Amy and Knuckles, who both whirled around and gasped in surprise; painted upon the stainless silver wall was the Eggman insignia, a crude, bright yellow spray painted version of the doctor's face.

Unless he was very much mistaken, Tails knew that they had accidentally infiltrated Eggman's base.

"Damn them!" Eggman hissed, slapping his hand upon the keyboard. Sonic who had been on the verge of falling asleep, lifted his head up, a cocky grin spreading across his face; anything that caused Eggman discomfort was good news for him.

"What's the matter, Eggy?" he asked in his infuriatingly superior voice. "World domination not going so great?"

Without swivelling around to face him, Eggman snarled, "It appears your dim-witted friends have stumbled across my secret entrance. This is, I must admit, a minor setback, because it will not have triggered my alarms, and my guards will not have been dispatched. Very well," the doctor stood up swiftly, sending his chair spinning towards the wall. "I will activate them manually," turning to face Sonic, Eggman forced an evil grin upon his face, though his beady black eyes flashed with fear behind his tinted sunglasses. "Don't even bother trying to escape, Sonic. I need my raw material."

He turned and, making sure to block what he was typing from Sonic's view with his immense bulk, he typed a code in on his keyboard, causing an echoing boom to occur from the other side of the immense, vault-like door. Without a word to Sonic, Eggman stormed out of the holding cell, somehow managed to force himself through the space between the door and the wall, then slammed it shut behind him.

Revelling in his now non-obscured view of the monitors, Sonic hungrily searched them for Tails and Amy, his eyes roving over the plasma screens so fast they appeared blurred. But after several sweep-throughs, it became clear that neither of them were there.

_What does this mean? _Sonic asked himself, gritting his teeth and giving the chains that bound him an angry shake. He was sure that they were somewhere in the base - perhaps somewhere where there were no monitors? – but he knew from experience that Eggman put normal paranoia to shame.

_Invisible, maybe? I wouldn't put it past Tails to do something like that. _Smiling slightly to himself, something almost as interesting as Tails and Amy's whereabouts caught his eye.

Rouge the Bat, notorious jewel thief, sometimes – spy and on – off girlfriend of Knuckles, was lounging in a dimly-lit room, relaxing in a velvet lounge chair. There was something to relaxed about the bat's face, at how she was sitting, and more importantly, what she was sitting on, to convince Sonic that she was here as the doctor's prisoner, (the day Eggman treated his captives to privacy and velvet lounge chairs, Sonic would give up running).

_So what's she doing here?_

The answer hit Sonic like a punch to the stomach; hadn't Eggman said 'spies'? Wasn't Rouge one of the most accomplished sleuths in the business? Knuckles would have told Rouge all about their visit to Maginaryworld, and Rouge was far from stupid; she would have known the value of the information she had come into possession to, and had evidentially blabbed to Eggman.

_Well, that solves that, _Sonic thought, fury boiling up inside him, fury that had not inhabited him since he was last faced with Illumina. He let out a feral snarl as he envisioned the petty bag of jewels Eggman had promised Rouge in return for her services.

_When I get out of here, _Sonic vowed, glaring through narrowed eyes up at Rouge's oblivious form. _I'm gonna punch that bitch straight in the face._

"You're such a nerd, Tails!" Amy giggled, smiling in the direction of Tails' face, and she heard Knuckles' disembodied snort sound from somewhere on her right.

"I'll take that as a compliment, Amy," Tails responded sarcastically, though the smugness in his voice was almost sickening. For the fox had, incredibly, also added onto their comlinks during the week they had been back from Maginaryworld; at the press of a button, the wearer became invisible. Both Amy and Knuckles had marvelled at their invisibility for a full five minutes before speaking.

"The only way anyone's gonna see us is if they smash into us," Tails whispered smugly. "Or if they're wearing heat-seeking goggles," he added as a worried afterthought.

"Who would do that?" Knuckles asked impatiently, and Amy could practically see him rolling his eyes. "No one knows we're here, remember?"

"Yeah...yeah you're right," Tails said, shaking his head and coming to himself. "Let's get a move on; here, join arms so that we don't get separated."

After much groping around, Amy found herself in between Tails and Knuckles, their hands clenched around her wrists. Feeling ridiculous, the three of them set out at a brisk run, taking care not to make any sound as they sprinted across the metal tiles. For ten silent minutes, they twisted and turned through the maze-like hallways of Eggman's underground base, something even Amy was impressed at the genius of. The only noise was the faint tapping of buttons as Tails tapped frantically on his comlink, Knuckles' suppressed snorts of laughter and her own occasional giggles.

"Hold up," Tails hissed from her right, and they immediately hurtled to a stop. "Get against the wall!" the fox hissed, sounding panicked. Obediently, Amy threw herself against the nearest wall, pressing her back against it, working hard to keep her breathing silent. She felt someone press themselves against the space beside her but did not speak, her cheek pressed against the cool wall, staring intently at the corner before her, listening for sounds of the cause of their pause.

She heard it before she saw it; a faint electronic beeping, and she would hazard a guess at it coming from an approaching robot. She heard Tails' breath catch in surprise as the robot came around the corner; it was smaller than she, shaped like an unremarkable, stainless steel red box, with two wheels for legs and a thin, sensor-like screen for a head. A red dot was bouncing off the sides of the screen, and each time it came in contact with one of the sides, it emitted the faint beep and bounced off in the opposite direction. As it rolled around the corner, it came to an abrupt halt, its head turned in the direction of their frozen forms. For a split second, Amy, Tails and Knuckles gazed at the robot in horror, and it looked back at them, and then, it whirled around and shot off in the other direction, screaming in a high-pitched, robotic voice, "Intruders! Intruders!"

"I got this!" Knuckles growled from her left, and she felt a whoosh of displaced air breeze past her as the echidna took off after the robot. With a gasp of effort, she shoved herself off the wall and sprinted after him, tearing around the corner just in time to see it being pummelled from both sides, an act that only caused it to swerve in a chaotic zigzag pattern and it to emit a high pitched whine on top of the screaming.

Amy pulled out her hammer, and to her surprise she saw that it too was invisible. With a burst of effort, she sped up, and with a noise like "Hatcha!" she slammed it into its hovering screen like head, causing it to collide with the metal wall and shatter into several pieces. She turned to see that the robot's body had come to a halt, and for good measure, she slammed her hammerhead down upon it, crushing it like one might a pop can.

"Nice work!" Tails gasped, skidding to a halt beside her. Amy merely gasped for breath in response, while Knuckles said, "Can't we stop being invisible for a minute?"

"No!" Tails cried in panic, reaching out to grab Knuckles by the arm but missing by a long shot. "We can't let Eggman know where we are!"

"Yeah, like a flattened robot won't be as good as a trail of breadcrumbs," Amy said sarcastically, and both Tails and Knuckles laughed.

Suddenly, one of the doors several meters away slid open, and out came a man, an immensely fat, egg-shaped man in a red blazer, tight black pants, tinted blue sunglasses and a bushy brown moustache, stopping dead at the sight of the crushed, headless robot.

No one moved; Eggman's mouth moved silently, building mental bridges to connect what he saw to what he knew to be happening, and then-

"They're here!" he hissed, a smile spreading across his face, and he groped around like a blind man, feeling his way down the wall. "I know you're here, Tails!" he called out, triumph thundering in his voice. "Why don't you-"

"Shut up!" Amy screamed, rage suddenly exploding out of her. Eggman froze, his head turning in their direction, eyes flashing angrily from behind his sunglasses, but Amy didn't care. All she wanted to do was to hurt him, this man who had captured Sonic, who had kidnapped Cream and Cheese-

With a wordless shriek, she pulled out her hammer and threw it bodily from herself, but to her horror, the moment it left her grasp it became visible, and Eggman squealed as he ducked out of harm's way, and her hammer streaked over head before skidding to a halt near the end of the hallway. Amy made to run towards him, but someone caught her up in their arms, clamped a hand over her mouth, skirted Eggman and then sprinted towards the end of the hallway, where a heavy iron door stood, sprayed with the Eggman insignia.

"I know where you're headed, Amy!" called Eggman, and Amy looked back furiously to see the doctor glaring after them, his spaghetti arms folded across his immense chest. "It's no use trying to hide!"

"Yeah, yeah, shut up," Knuckles growled, and it was clearly he who was holding her. Amy struggled half-heartedly to be free, but Knuckles' grip was too strong to break. Just before they reached the iron door, it slid open, and Amy saw her hammer disappear from before it. As soon as they had penetrated the next room, Knuckles hurtled to a stop and hastily placed her on her feet.

The iron door slid shut behind them with a deafening clang, followed by a noise like a laser beam being fired. Both Amy and Knuckles spun around to see a beam of concentrated, cyan blue energy shooting out of nowhere, travelling in a slow, careful line up the crack of the door. When it reached the top, the beam vanished, leaving the crack in the door smoking and burning a bright red.

Tails suddenly came into view, solidifying from transparently ghost like to solidly real. Knuckles raised his eyebrows as he demanded, "Can we-?"

"Yeah, go ahead," Tails responded, tapping on his comlink. Both Amy and Knuckles sighed in relief and tapped the buttons on their comlink to return them to visibility.

Amy turned and saw that they were standing in an empty room, about as long as the hallway they had just come out of and three times as wide. At the other end stood a whisper-silent door with a green light burning above it. She made to step forwards, but Tails shouted, _"Stop! _You'll activate the alarm!"

Amy froze with one foot in the air, terror spreading across her face. "Here," Tails hissed from behind her, and Amy turned just in time to catch what looked like half a headset, half 3-D goggles, much like the device Tails had been wearing back in the Tornado. She put it on carefully, and the moment she did so, the world turned entirely red. Awed, she turned and saw, to her shock, that the entire room was filled with laser beams, criss-crossing back and forth, intersecting, going in every direction imaginable; the closest was mere inches from her.

Hastily taking a step back, Amy turned and saw that Tails was surveying the laser beams with a slightly crestfallen expression on his face.

"You're disappointed, aren't you?" Knuckles asked incredulously from her right, and Amy had to laugh. Tails smiled slightly, pausing in his tapping on his comlink to look up at them.

"Well, he's supposed to be a genius, after all," the fox said, with a roguish wink.

"Ha!" Sonic hissed, a smile spreading across his face as he stared at one of the monitors, upon which a tiny red robot had just been pummelled, lost its head and flattened. He was willing to bet everything he owned on Tails and Amy being behind it.

Eggman had still not returned, and for that he was grateful; he needed to see what was going on in the outside world, and Eggman's immense bulk prevented that from happening. He knew that he could not sit here helplessly and wait for the others to come and rescue him, for he had been counting off the obstacles Eggman had listed in his head and realized that the others were about to face off with a bunch of 'technological obstructions', as the doctor had put it.

But he was torn from his thoughts as he spotted something on the monitors; Eggman himself had just walked out of one of the doors, feet from where the crushed robot was sitting. The doctor froze at the sight of it, and then began to feel his way slowly down the hall, arms waving wildly around him as he searched for something invisible.

_Shit! _Sonic thought, his heart pumping painfully in his chest as he watched Eggman. Then, out of nowhere, Amy's hammer materialized, spinning sinisterly towards Eggman, who ducked just in time. The doctor froze as something he could not see whizzed past him, and Sonic found himself, for the first time, infuriated at his friends' invisibility.

But he knew in his heart that Eggman not being able to see them was the only thing they had going for them, and so the frustration quickly evaporated. Suddenly, the iron grey door at the end of the hallway slid open, and Amy's hammer vanished just before they clashed shut.

_Great, _Sonic thought weak with relief. _That'll have bought them some time, and hopefully some for me, too..._

For he knew that Eggman would now be busy trying to capture Tails and Amy, and would hopefully have no intention of returning until they were caught which, Sonic knew from experience, would be a very long time. He now set his sights on attempting to escape, something he had not dared to try with Eggman here, and certainly not when he had half a dozen laser sights fixed unmovingly upon his chest.

Gritting his teeth at his predicament, very slowly, Sonic raised one of his chained arms, bracing his ears for the sound of a gunshot.

But nothing happened.

He bounced up and down from his perch on the floor, tried and failed to get into standing position, waved his arms wildly, but still there was no gunshot, no piecing, stabbing pain in his chest. Sonic let out a vehement hiss of satisfaction.

_There's no way Eggman'd shoot his raw material, _Sonic thought savagely. _And since I'm the only one in the universe who had what he wants, he wouldn't want to kill me before he had to._

Taking comfort in this grim realization, Sonic took a deep breath, drawing all of his strength for what he was about to do, and then lurched forwards, moving his legs as fast as they could as he sprinted through mid air, the clamps around his wrists and ankles digging into his flesh, legs burning from exertion, and after a full minute Sonic collapsed against the cold wall, chest heaving, teeth grinding together. He cast a glance at the wall behind him, and saw, to his dismay, that he had only created the tiniest of cracks in the metal surface.

Sonic turned back around, fury boiling inside of him. This was going to take a long time.


	15. Unexpected

Knuckles looked between Tails and Amy, both of whom had put on the ridiculous part-glasses and were gazing about in wonder. Feeling ridiculous, Knuckles jammed his on his face, feeling unimpressed as he saw the world in part infra-red, part normal. And then, his vision cleared, except the space ahead of him was covered in laser beams that created a blitz of chaos that, when interrupted, would undoubtedly set off the alarm.

Impressed, Knuckles turned around and saw that Tails was surveying the task before them with an expression on his face that would make one assume he had just been denied a real treat. "You're actually disappointed, aren't you?" Knuckles asked in exasperation, and Amy laughed.

Tails looked up, winking mysteriously. "Well, he's supposed to be a genius, after all."

Amy looked at the fox with a bemused expression on her face. "I'm so glad I broke into Eggman's base with you, Tails."

The fox blushed furiously, then, with a manic gleam in his eyes, cried, "I can't believe he's that stupid!" And without further ado, he leapt into the air, seized Amy around the waist – with much squealing on Amy's part – and flew over the blitz of laser beams, his head brushing the metal ceiling, Amy drawing her knees up to her chest and only just avoiding some of the higher-set beams. Knuckles followed their progress, smiling to himself as he marvelled at Eggman's stupidity; wouldn't he have designed a more difficult obstacle than this if he knew Tails could fly?

_That must mean he's got something worse up his sleeve after this, _offered a grim voice in his head, one Knuckles dismissed with a shake of his head, knowing that it did no good to worry. Tails and Amy had landed on the other side of the room with a dull clunk, and Amy immediately disentangled herself from Tails, while the fox turned and called awkwardly, "Er...do you thing-?"

"No problem," Knuckles called back, having no desire for Tails to carry him across; if Sonic ever found out, he'd never be able to live it down. With a grunt, he leapt into the air, his fists clenched and extended above his head. His four metal knuckles pierced the ceiling, and he drew his knees up to his chin as he made his way across the room, monkey-bar style.

It was much slower than Tails had been, and Amy was tapping her toe impatiently on the ground and clicking her tongue as he dropped down before them. The moment he did so, there was a loud bang on the iron door behind them, and he whirled around, his heart flying into his throat.

"Don't worry," Tails said smugly, placing a hand on his shoulder as fist-sized dents appeared in the iron. "I welded them together. No one's getting through that for a long time."

Knuckles grunted in agreement and turned around to face the door. It was sinisterly unremarkable, its green light still burning brightly above it. Exchanging nods with Amy and Tails, the three of them pressed the buttons on their comlinks to turn themselves invisible, and then stepped forwards, causing the door to slide open with a pneumatic hiss.

Knuckles had the confused impression of dim lighting, silver walls and something black before an ear splitting roar filled his ears. Amy screamed in fear and Knuckles instinctively threw himself forwards, accidentally bringing someone down with him. The unmistakable sound of bullets hitting the wall above them filled the air, on top of deafening roar of machine guns being fired. Knuckles forced himself to glance upwards, his teeth grinding together, and saw a dozen massive, heavy artillery guns fixed upon the wall opposite them, spewing lethal bits of copper at them.

How long they lay there, Knuckles did not know; all he knew was roaring noise, Amy shaking beneath him and the smell of acrid smoke. At long last, the machines ran out of bullets, and with ominous clicking noises, the room fell silent, smoking slightly. Knuckles' ears were ringing with the sound of the bullets being fired, but he got to his feet, pulling Amy up with him as he growled, "Are you alright?"

"Yes," she whispered, sounding terrified.

"I'm fine, thanks for asking," Tails said sarcastically, shimmering into view. "C'mon, let's get to the door before those guns start up again!"

Knuckles pressed the button that would return him to visibility at the same time Amy did, and they threw themselves onto the bullet-riddled ground, crawling as fast as they could to the opposite wall. Doing his best not to slip, Knuckles reached the wall last, but as he reached the other end, he saw that there was, in fact, no door waiting for them on the other side.

"Huh?" Amy said in confusion, getting up and leaning over to check the other end, shaking her head to show there wasn't one. "Where's the door?"

A moment's confused silence, then-

"There!" Knuckles hissed, spotting the door on the same wall they had just crawled away from, sitting on the opposite end of the one they had just come out of.

"Nice work," Tails applauded him. "Let's go!"

They threw themselves back onto the ground and slid their way towards the opposite end. About halfway there, the shooting started again, and Amy gave a little scream of fear as it did.

"Just keep going," Knuckles encouraged her, giving her a slight push to jump start her. Amy gave a whimper of agreement and continued forwards at a snails' crawl.

They reached the other end, still being deafened by the sound of the guns firing, and they wordlessly agreed not to move until the guns had stopped. As soon as Knuckles had thought this, there was silence, the hollow ringing of bullets hitting the floor still echoing off the walls. Knuckles leapt upright, an act that triggered the red light that had been hanging above the wall to turn green and the door to slide open, revealing pitch blackness.

"What do you think's in there?" Amy asked in a hushed voice. Knuckles considered many things, more guns, a battalion of robots, some sort of monster, laser beams...or perhaps it was just a dark room that they would have to feel their way out of.

"Well," he said, turning to wink at Tails and Amy. "We're not gonna stand here and wait around for those guns to start up again, are we?"

And he leapt into blackness.

Eggman stomped along one of the several hidden passageways he had had built inside his base, his dilemma playing through his mind like a tape on a loop. Tails, Amy and perhaps Knuckles had infiltrated his base, discovered that his robots were fitted with heat sensors, and, not to mention, were invisible and had jammed the door to his first of three technological barriers.

_What I want to know, _Eggman thought, twirling his moustache in irritation. _Is how they discovered the secret entrance?_

Rouge, as far as he knew, was still inside the base, waiting where he had told her to. He considered the possibility that she had told its location to Knuckles, for he had long suspected her of nursing a 'soft spot' for the echidna, but he knew for a fact that she had not left the base since she had passed him the information on Sonic's excursion to Maginaryworld and suspected that her contact with the outside world was minimal.

_What about the other two? _Eggman asked himself in panic, thinking about he had not heard from them since he sent them out in their fighter jets._ Is it possible that they're outside my control? That they betrayed me?_

_No, _he thought, calm surging through him. _There's no way they're outside my control. My methods are too secure._

_So how do I put a stop to Tails' advantage? _He turned his attention to the problem he could solve, knowing that the fox was certain to have brought something along to get them past the laser beams. He could not access the machine gun room without going through the laser beam room first, which Sonic's friends had been kind enough to jam. Then there was the third room, which was as good as a maze, and then they would meet Rouge and the others before reaching the vault itself. Invisibility would not enhance intelligence, but it certainly would make it easier to get past his spies, not to mention impossible to track on cameras...

_What I need, _Eggman ground his teeth at the seemingly impossible task facing him. _Is a way to short circuit their devices._

And then it hit him like a punch in the face; Eggman's boots clinked to a stop as he stopped, feeling as though he had been stuck by a bolt of lightning. A slow smile spread across his face as he reached into his massive pocket, withdrawing a thin silver cylinder from it. Raising it above his head, he flipped open the lid, causing a small flame to ignite just below where he knew the smoke alarm to be. Immediately, there was a series of shrill beeps, followed by a downpour of water from his hidden sprinklers.

Eggman allowed his lighter to clink close, placing it back in his pocket, feeling as though he had outdone himself this time. In less than five minutes, he had cut off all of Sonic's chances of escape.

Amy was in complete shock.

For one thing, the blackness beyond the machine guns had not, in fact, led to a room filled with robots or sinister machines, but to nothing, so that she, Tails and Knuckles were all falling through the air, tumbling through blackness that seemed to have no end. She was holding herself as rigid as a board, one hand clamped over her mouth to keep herself from screaming.

For another thing, it was raining.

_We're _inside! Amy thought in exasperation, clenching her eyes shut to keep water out of them. _How the hell can it be raining inside?_

But she did not have any time to discover the mystery of indoor weather, for at that moment, her endless tumbling came to an abrupt halt. To her surprise, she landed on something immensely soft, like a mattress or perhaps, a trampoline. Nevertheless, her breath rushed out of her lungs in a surprised huff, and she collapsed upon the thing beneath her, gasping for air.

"Get off of me!" came a muffled demand from beneath her. With a gasp, Amy leapt upright, and saw that she had not been sitting on a mattress, but Knuckles, who looked furious as he pried himself off the cold metal floor.

"Sorry!" Amy laughed, pulling him to his feet, but then she froze. She could see her arms, damp with the rain that had now ceased. Hadn't she been invisible when she jumped into the blackness?

"What the-?" she gasped, shaking water from her hair and gazing at the rest of her body in horror. She looked up, her eyes huge, and saw that both Tails and Knuckles were looking down themselves, identical masks of shock on their faces.

"Eggman!" Tails growled, looking furious as he unstrapped his comlink from his wrist. Amy felt a pang of rage course through her at the fiend's name.

_That bitter son of a bitch! _She cursed, then asked fearfully, "Will they still work after this?"

"Probably," Tails responded, still sounding annoyed. "They'll take about ten minutes to dry out though, so-"

"Well, we can't start moving until they do," Knuckles said, gesturing at the room around them. Amy looked up, and she felt as though her insides had frozen. They were standing in a dimly lit room, and the blackness they had fallen out of seemed to have been covered up by the metallic silver ceiling above them. The walls were lined with doors – Amy counted twenty-four – all of them with glowing green lights fixed above them.

Tails swore violently, while Amy's heart seemed to have been plunged into a bucket of ice. Who knew which one of the doors led to the proper room, or what happened if they picked the wrong one? Or how many rooms each door led into after entering them.

"We don't have time to lose," Amy whispered, trying to cleanse her mind of the hopeless thoughts whirling through it. "Let's start searching, all together-"

"Are you _insane?" _Knuckles hissed, shaking his head in incredulity. "Look at the size of this room, Amy! We can't all search it together!"

"Well, what do _you _propose, Mr. Brilliant?" Amy demanded, tossing her head in fury.

"Let's stay here until the comlinks dry out!" Tails suggested, stepping between Amy and the furious-looking Knuckles. "I can teach you guys what they do in the meantime, they do a lot more than turn you invisible and contact each other!"

"That's a complete waste of time!" Amy protested, and Tails glared at her, looking outraged. "Time we can't afford to lose!"

"Well, we can't all search together, either!" Tails snarled back. _"That's _a waste of time, time we can't afford to lose!"

"Knuckles, what do you think?" Amy couldn't really believe she was asking the echidna for help, and when he remained silent, looking between herself and Tails, Tails took it as an opportunity to launch his assault again.

"Look, Amy, it's too dangerous for us to all split up, but it's a waste of time for us to search every room together, time we-"

"Can't afford to lose, yeah, we've heard it, Tails," Knuckles cut across him suddenly, but did not speak after that.

Quite abruptly, an explosion of rage and sorrow took place inside her chest, and Amy let out a scream of mingled exasperation and hysteria. "SONIC'S BEEN CAPTURED!" she shouted at her bewildered companions. "HE COULD BE DEAD, FOR ALL WE KNOW! AND INSTEAD OF LOOKING FOR HIM, WE'RE SITTING AROUND, TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHICH ONE OF US IS THE SMARTEST!"

As she finished, angry tears leaked out of her narrowed eyes, which seemed to act as the trigger that launched Knuckles into speech.

"Well," he began hesitantly, his deep purple eyes flashing towards Amy's face and down to the floor so fast she wasn't sure it had happened. "We really can't afford to sit around and wait for the comlinks to dry out," Tails' bright blue eyes narrowed very slightly, but he did not interrupt. "But we can't search every room all together, either. So...I think we should take the comlinks with us, but split up and try to find the exit. If any of us does, we should stay put and keep trying to contact the others until our comlinks dry out."  
Amy was impressed at the readiness of the echidna's plan, and she cast a glance towards Tails, who looked unhappy, but knew when he had lost a vote, so he sighed in a resigned sort of way and said, "Alright, let's go."

He walked away from them, stopping in front of the second door from the left on the wall opposite them. Not knowing – or caring – if he had any particular reason for choosing such this door, Amy took the door on the fox's right, and Knuckles beside her.

They exchanged sceptical looks, and then, in a nervous little voice, Tails suggested, "On three?"

Amy swallowed before nodding, then murmured, "One, two, three!"

She placed her hand on the door before her, which slid back to reveal a room full of bright green light. She glanced left and right, but Knuckles and Tails had already stepped inside their respective doors, and so, raking a deep breath, Amy stepped into the light.

There was a noise like a laser beam being fired, and suddenly, she was standing back in the dimly lit room she had just walked out of. "Huh?" she said, staggering forwards, overpowered by déjà vu.

"What the-? Amy?" Knuckles asked from beside her, sounding just as confused as she felt. Amy spun around, and immediately noticed that Tails was not beside him.

"Tails? She called fearfully, turning slowly on the spot and staring around for the fox she knew that would not be there. Then her gaze fell upon the doors they had just entered; all three of them now had bright red lights burning above them.

"_Tails!" _she cried, pulling out her hammer as she sprinted towards the door that Tails had gone through, slamming it as hard as she could against the surface. The contact yielded no results other than painful vibrations that ran up her arms. Tears pooled in her eyes as she slammed her fists against the door that would not open, knowing that it was all her fault that Tails was not with them, that she had suggested splitting up...

"Amy," Knuckles called, and she knew by the tone of his voice that something important had happened. "Look at this."

Amy spun around , and saw that a mass of glittering green holographic text had appeared in the center of the room, words she could not read. She ran around to join Knuckles, and whispered aloud,

"_You are in a room full of doors,_

_Count them, and you'll find twenty four._

"_Behind each something different, yet the same lies,_

_After you enter, each door seals itself, for fear of spies._

"_Four hold light that that is neither friend nor foe;_

_It will teleport you back here, perhaps to your woe._

"_Eight hold perils you'll learn to despise,_

_But if you survive, it's well worth risking your demise._

"_Four hold the power to make you sleep,_

_It will bring you back here, and you'll be in trouble deep._

"_Lastly, eight are perhaps the best;_

_You'll advance to the next room, if you pass its test."_

"So," Knuckles breathed, when she had finished. "Tails' either still in or gotten killed in one of the perilous room, or advanced to the next one."

"Don't!" Amy squealed, her heart clenching painfully at his words. "Don't say he's dead!"

Knuckles shrugged, unconcerned. "Hey, it might be the truth. Anyway, I'm not gonna sit around here waiting for him to miraculously appear." With a wink, he turned and walked towards the door next to the one he had already tried, and vanished into a mass of bright red light.

Amy had leapt to her feet, one hand outstretched, her mouth open to warn him, but as soon as the door closed, one behind her whooshed open, and someone staggered in.

"Amy?" came Tails' bewildered voice, and with a scream Amy spun around to stare at Tails.

The fox looked dishevelled, his yellow fur standing on end, and there was a deep gash in one of his cheeks, but he was otherwise unharmed.

"Oh no, _oh no!" _Amy cried, sprinting forwards and throwing herself at Tails, tears wetting his fur. "Are you okay?"

"If I wasn't would I be standing here right now?" Tails asked, with a weak attempt at humour. "Where's Knuckles?"

Amy pulled away from him, wiping her relieved tears from her eyes. "He just went into another room. What happened to you?"

"Well, I couldn't hear anything that was going on in the other rooms," Tails began, sounding thoughtful. "And it was really dark when I first went in, but then the lights came on and there were all these robots throwing axes at me, it was all I could do to keep dodging them, let alone get to the next room...

"One of the robots got lucky," he indicated the gash on his cheek. "But that was all, because I got past them and out the door and..." Tails trailed off, blushing slightly.

"What?" Amy demanded, her dark eyes widening. "What happened, Tails?"

"I, err...well, the next room was full of bright white light," Tails explained, his blush increasing. "And I...well, heard Cosmo's voice and-"

"You heard Cosmo?" Amy exclaimed, her eyes widening even more. "What did she say?"

"That..."Tails' resolve suddenly solidified and he opened his bright blue eyes to stare intensely at her. "She said Sonic's okay, and that we can rescue him if we hurry. And...she told us to be strong, to not give up."

Amy shook her head in amazement; it was hard to contemplate how Eggman had managed to construct something like that, something that allowed Tails to communicate with a dead person. But her own resolve, which had gone out like a match dropped into the ocean, suddenly flared again, transforming into a blinding inferno of determination.

"Look at this!" Amy said, turning and gesturing towards the place where the cryptic clues were hanging. Tails' eyes widened as he took in the words, and his lips moved soundlessly as he read them. When he had finished, his eyes snapped onto hers, and he asked in amazement, "How did you get them to appear?"

Amy smiled sheepishly. "I kinda freaked out when you didn't come out of the door, so I hit it with my hammer, and, well, it appeared."

Tails nodded, his gaze returning to the words. "There's gotta be some clues hidden inside it, to figure out which doors lead to-"

He was interrupted by a crack of white light, and when it dispersed, it revealed-

"Knuckles!" both she and Tails cried, running towards their unconscious friend. Knuckles looked completely unharmed, though the fact that nothing they did to try to wake him up worked seemed ominous.

"Knuckles!" Amy hissed impatiently, barely restraining herself from slapping the sleeping echidna. "Wake up!"

"I don't think we can do anything, Amy," Tails said, sounding resigned. "He'll wake up whenever the knockout gas wears off. And if the clues are any help, he won't – Amy?"

For Amy's eyes had unfocused, her mind drifting, not registering anything Tails had said. The last two lines of the text were ringing through her mind, and she knew she was on the brink of a revelation.

_Lastly, eight are perhaps the best; you'll advance to the next room, if you pass its test._

And then it hit her; Amy leapt to her feet, and Tails jumped looking unnerved.

"The doors at the end!" she exploded, and Tails shrank back, his eyes huge. "They'll lead us to the next room!" she elaborated excitedly, and Tails' bewilderment changed to confusion. Annoyed at his incompetence, Amy quoted to poem.

" '_Lastly, eight are perhaps the best!' _It's gotta mean the door at the end!"

"I don't know, Amy," Tails said slowly, sceptically. "It could be...but-"

"You said it, yourself, Tails!" Amy cried impatiently. "There's gotta be some hidden clues about which doors lead to where! This is one of the clues!"

When Tails continued his silent sceptism, Amy snorted and turned away, walking towards the door to the left of the one Tails had entered. "Stay here with Knuckles," she called, without turning around. "Tell him what I think when he wakes up. I'll call you guys when I get to the other side."

She stopped in front of the door, then turned to stare at Tails. He was wearing the same cautioning expression she had been when Knuckles had gone into his second door. She smiled slightly and threw him a wink, then placed her hand upon the smooth surface. It slid back at her touch, revealing complete blackness. Not allowing fear to enter her mind, Amy strode into the room, and as the door slid shut behind her, she knew there was no turning back.

The moment the door had closed, the room exploded with bright white light. Squinting in this sudden change in brightness, Amy saw that a large wooden pole had appeared in the middle of the room, and bound to it by heavy black ropes was-

"Sonic!" Amy exclaimed, her eyes widening in horror. For indeed it was Sonic, his hands behind his back, head bowed, breathing slowly. He did not react when she called his name, an ominous sign, and Amy started forwards, but before she had taken more than a step, someone erupted into being between them.

The newcomer was by no means human, swathed in strange sapphire robes, his emerald hair curtaining his thin grey face that was dominated by gaunt sapphire-amethyst eyes-

"You!" Amy screeched, reaching for her hammer. The last time she had seen Void had been in a dream in which he claimed that she had been destined to become his wife, and on the occasion before that, he had tried to kill her. She was not enthralled at his appearance.

"Me," Void said, a cruel smile playing about his thin lips, and despite her anger, a thrill of fear went through Amy at how icy his voice was.

"I'd put that away, if I were you," Void continued in his superior voice, pointing at her hammer. "It won't help your friend at all if you attack me."

Amy shook her head in exasperated defiance. "What, so you can have a free shot at me?" she snarled, her hands curling around her weapons handle. "Dream on!"

"Enough," Void hissed, so venomously that Amy froze. "I am not here to attack you, Amy Rose, no matter how much I want to. I am here to test your willingness to do that which you would normally never do, to better serve the world."

Amy's brain ground to a halt at Void's cryptic sentence. Under normal circumstances, she would never have believed that Void had no intention of attacking her, and she no more understood his words than she could have explained what was going on, but these were not normal circumstances, and she had the strangest suspicion that nothing was as it seemed.

"Alright," she allowed, keeping the malice in her voice at maximum. "But one wrong move, and you're gonna get a mouthful of wood, got that?"

Void chose not to respond, though his dark eyes flashed at her words. "Here is your challenge," he snarled, and Amy stiffened. "You must take your hammer and hit Sonic the Hedgehog in the face."

Amy felt as though Void had slapped her; she staggered away from the Maginaire, feeling dizzy, but when she regained her balance she snarled, "No way!"

Void hissed, a snakelike sound, and spat, "Then you will stay here forever! This is the reason Mobius is doomed, for faithless, love struck fools like yourselves dare to protect it! Your unwillingness to do what you must will be the end of you!" Breathing deeply, a contemptuous smile appeared upon his face, and he said, "I assure you, the blow will not kill him, and he will be in much worse trouble if you refuse to do so."

Amy stared uncomprehendingly at the Maginaire, her mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. She knew not whether Void was telling the truth about refusing to hit Sonic would result in staying here forever, but she was certain that there was no way that she could harm Sonic, much less hitting him with her hammer.

_But could I do it to save Mobius? _Amy probed herself, at the answer came slowly, like she had to drag it out of a pool of cement. No, there was no way she could harm him, that her reluctance, her selfishness, would mean the end of the world.

"Can't I do something else?" she called up at Void, desperation clawing at her voice, but he did not appear to hear her, gazing blankly up into space, and as she looked at him, his face was fleetingly replaced with Lumina Flowlight's, wearing the unknowing expression she had when Illumina had sacrificed her life to gain a body.

When Lumina's face vanished, replaced by Void's, Amy's sense of unreality increased. "You're dead," she said slowly, staring hard at Void's unresponsive expression, feeling sure that what she said was the truth. "There's no way you can be talking to me...and Sonic's tied up in Eggman's prison!" she added suddenly, her eyes narrowing as she fell off the edge of confusion and plunged into a mass of revelations.

"This is a trick!" she shouted, and she ran right through Void, who turned out to be no more solid than the words that had appeared in the room behind her. She pulled her hammer over her shoulder and swung it forwards as hard as she could. The moment it made contact with Sonic's face, a black current ran over him, a current that infected the pole he was bound to and the whiteness of their surroundings. Abruptly, Sonic and Void vanished, and a spotlight of brightest white light appeared before her, throwing the silver door before her into sharp relief.

Amy sighed, a slow smile spreading across her face. She flipped open her comlink, and was delighted to find that it was working again, and she pressed the call button. But, to her confusion, she found that it wouldn't work, emitting an annoying, fax machine-like sound, the screen going unresponsively snowy white.

Annoyed, Amy cancelled the call and instead pressed the button that would make her invisible. She was relieved to see that it worked, and her arms shimmered out of the visible spectrum. Storing her hammer in its hidden carrier, she ran forwards, pressing her hand against the cool metal surface of the door and creeping into the room beyond.

The next room was dimly lit, something that seemed to be fashionable in Eggman's base, and resembled a lounge room more than anything else. There were velvet couches and arm chairs scattered throughout the room, accompanied by several televisions, what looked like a kitchen, a massive canopy bed in one corner, and a glossy wooden bar, a frosted shelve sitting behind it with bottles of every shape and size glittering like gems upon it.

But Amy wasn't interested in her surroundings; her attention was fixed upon the person in the middle of the room, who had frozen, gazing with huge, unseeing eyes at the door that had just slid open and closed behind her.

Apparently, Rouge decided that it had been a technological error, for she relaxed into the arm chair behind her, a contented expression upon her face. Amy bit back a snarl; she did not like the bat, for she was overly flirtatious and uncomfortably confident. She was clothed, as was her custom, in a skin tight black body suit with a pink heart covering her chest, white gloves pulled to her elbows, heart topped boots crossed as she relaxed in her chair. Her lips were an offensive shade of pink, and her earthy brown eyes were shadowed with cyan makeup. Her white fur gleamed, and her cheeks were reddened with blush. Amy knew that the only reason Knuckles liked her was that –she hated to admit it – Rouge was extremely beautiful, something she resented.

But she could not understand why Rouge was here; the environment was much too luxurious for a prison – she had never been treated to velvet lounge chairs during her many experiences as a hostage – and Rouge's relaxed expression caused her to believe that she was here at invitation. Amy was certain that her presence meant that Eggman required her services, but she could not imagine what Eggman needed of the spy at the moment, not when he was busy with Sonic-

And then it hit her, so forcefully that the breath whooshed out of her lungs in an inaudible gasp. Rouge had betrayed them, she had forsaken Knuckles and passed information on them to Eggman, information that had enabled Eggman to capture Sonic, and Amy was certain that Rouge being stationed in this room meant that she was the next obstacle in their quest to rescue Sonic.

Rage exploded inside of Amy like a supernova, and she shook with that which consumed her as she crossed the room towards Rouge, careful not to make a sound, for the bat had super sensitive hearing, and then, she pulled a hand over her shoulder and shouted, "YOU _BITCH!_"

And with that, she mustered all of her force and slapped the bat across the cheek, causing her to give a cry of shock and pain, the force of the blow causing her to fall off of her chair. Still frozen with shock, Rouge sat on the ground, her earthy eyes wide with wonder as she gingerly touched the place where an angry red mark was forming on her cheek with gloved fingertips, and in a voice that shook with rage, she whispered, "Amy Rose?"

Amy was furious, so much that she pulled open her comlink and pressed the button that would cancel out her invisibility, for she wanted Rouge to be able to see her, to see who was causing the pain that was about to be unleashed upon her.

"You traitor!" Amy shouted, hurling the words down at the bat as if they would cause her unendurable pain. "How could you betray Knuckles?"

Rouge did not speak, glaring up at Amy, fury boiling behind her facade of coolness, something that set her off like a firework.

"Where's Sonic?" Amy shouted, her fist clenching upon her hammer.

Rouge's eyes narrowed, and in her seductive drawl of a voice, she said, "Now darling, do you really expect me to tell you that after that slap to the _face?"_

She shouted the last word, for she lashed out in a hard spinning kick, a blow that caught Amy hard in the chest. A gasp of pain was wrenched from her lips, and she immediately retaliated in a sharp punch to the stomach, one that Rouge skipped backwards to avoid, and then the bat threw a merciless punch her way, one that Amy blocked only by forcing her hammer in front of her face.

Amy's rage exploded out of her in a wordless cry, and she swung her hammer forwards in a blow that resembled swinging a golf club, and it caught Rouge sharply under the chin. The bat screamed in pain as she was flung backwards, toppling over her vacant armchair and out of sight.

"Ha!" Amy snorted, tossing her head triumphantly. "Looks like we know who got the better of – WOAH!"

She cut herself off with a cry of surprise as Rouge suddenly leapt out from behind her chair and threw herself into the air, fury obscuring her face as she coiled herself into a tight spin, and as she descended she shouted, "SPIN KICK!"

Amy screamed in pain as Rouge's boot caught her hard in the chest, and she was blasted off her feet as she rocketed towards the wall, Rouge's foot still pressing against her chest, and as she slammed into the wall, the bat held her up in the air by the throat, breathing heavily as she glared at her with furious earthy eyes.

Amy's breath came in short ragged gasps, and she had difficulty focusing on Rouge through the spots of light that had erupted before her eyes from the painful collision with the wall. "Do you think...that by killing me...you'll redeem yourself?" she choked out, and Rouge unleashed an enraged snarl before dealing her a powerful blow to the side of the head.

Amy was unconscious before she hit the ground.

Knuckles watched the vicious brawl between Rouge and Amy with a feeling of mingled awe and fear; he had no idea which one he wanted to win. Amy was a part of his team, and he regarded her in a protective, older brother – way, but Rouge was his on-and-off girlfriend, one who alternatively pissed him off and made his anger turn to mush.

But when Rouge slammed Amy against the wall, his internal struggle ended explosively as his protective side for Amy won violently. With a snarl of denial, he pressed the button on his comlink that would return him to visibility and, without a word to Tails, sprinted towards Rouge, who turned just in time to see him pin her against the wall by the throat.

"What the-?" Rouge spluttered, her brown eyes huge as she took in Knuckles, clawing feebly at his iron grip on her throat. Knuckles stared at her through narrowed eyes, breathing deeply as his fury with her threatened to consume him.

"Why'd you attack Amy?" Knuckles snarled, and his grip on the bat's throat tightened. Rouge did not reply, for she was turning blue from lack of air, and Knuckles released her, still breathing heavily. The bat fell to her knees, gasping and choking and panting, gulping down air at a frantic pace, and Knuckles made to pull her to her feet, but before he could, Rouge had leapt into the air, seized him by the arm and slammed him against the wall, her arm pinning him to it by the neck.

"She attacked me first, you know," Rouge protested, her voice a soft murmur, and she turned her head to the side to reveal an angry red hand-shaped mark upon her cheek. Knuckles raised his eyebrows, his anger wavering very slightly, and as if sensing his uncertainty, Rouge began to stroke his cheek with the back of one finger, and Knuckles screwed up his face, battling against memories that struggled to be free from the place where he had locked them away, memories of Rouge...

"I'm supposed to turn you all in to Eggman," Rouge purred, her brown eyes flashing at her words. "But I won't. After all, if I did, I wouldn't be able to...talk to you."

The softness of her voice, the loving caress in which she said her words melted Knuckles' resolve, and he surrendered himself to the memories of the long nights he and Rouge had spent alone on Angel Island. Rouge removed her arm from his neck and grabbed his hand, towing him towards the massive black canopy bed in the corner of the room.

Reluctance flashed through Knuckles; _here, _with Tails and Amy watching? "Rouge..." he began in a cautioning voice, and the bat let out a low note of laughter.

"Now, now, don't get too excited, Knucky," she laughed, and she released his hand in favour of leaning against the bed, shoving her shoulder against it, moving it against the wall. After several moments, the bed had been moved to reveal a silver door with a green light hanging above it, a door like every one they had already gone through.

"Why are you doing this?" Knuckles asked, unable to keep the awe from his voice.

Rouge smiled slightly. "It's a small penance for all the pain I'm about to – I've caused you," at this, her eyes closed, and her smile wavered, bordering on a watery frown. "You'll never forgive me if I told you what I've done, so I won't. Go through this door, you've got one more obstacle and then you'll be able to rescue Sonic."

Knuckles stared at her, gratitude spreading across his face; he had no idea what Rouge meant when she said 'what I've done', but he did not really want to find out, either. He walked forwards, placed a hand on Rouge's shoulder, and said, in a low, grateful growl, "Thanks, Rouge."

Rouge winked as Knuckles made to draw away from her, but at that moment, Amy's disembodied whisper sounded from behind them, only loud enough for him to hear.

"We're waiting," she breathed, and Knuckles shivered slightly. Rouge raised her eyebrows at his still standing there, and, in an effort to both cover up his hesitation and satisfy himself, he leaned forwards and kissed her, something Rouge responded to in an almost hungry way. For a moment they stood there, entwined, oblivious to all but the feeling of the other's lips against theirs, the sound of their laboured breathing-

"Chaos Control," Rouge said suddenly, breaking away, gasping for breath. Knuckles felt as though he had been plunged into a bucket of icy water as he stared at Rouge confusedly.

"What-?"

"The password to let Sonic out, it's Chaos Control," Rouge repeated breathlessly, running a hand down her cheek. Knuckles nodded slowly, committing the word to memory, and he made to walk towards the door when Rouge called, "And Knucky?"

He half turned, waiting for her to continue. "I'm advising you to hurry up," she continued in a soft purr. "because the next time we meet, I'm afraid I won't be able to let you skip out on me."

Knuckles bit back a snarl, and he turned and strode through the door, Rouge's low laughter echoing after him.

Amy slipped carefully out behind Knuckles, the invisible Tails by her side. As soon as the door slid closed, she pressed the button that would cancel out her invisibility and asked mockingly, "Sure you don't want to stay back there with Rouge?"

"Shut up," Knuckles snarled, spinning around, and Amy was amused to see a faint blush on the echidna's face. Anger flared up inside her, and she clenched her fists, saying, "You do know she knocked me out, right? And you thought it'd be appropriate to kiss that bitch?"

"You started it?" Knuckles seemed to struggling to find words any more sophisticated than that, and Amy let out a snarl of mirthless laughter, opening her mouth to retort, but Tails shimmered into view, extending a hand towards each of them.

"Okay, that's enough," he said, glaring between them. "We've got more important things to do than discuss Rouge, we don't even know what the obstacle in this room is!"

"Oh, I don't think you'll be in the dark much longer," called a warped, twisted voice, distinctly feminine with a harsh computer counterpart. Amy gasped in surprise, whirling around, and saw to her dread that the dog-like robot and its monkey companion were standing in the middle of the room, perfectly still, the dog's arms folded across its chest, the monkey a statue on its shoulder.

Knuckles and Tails slid into half crouches on either side of her, and Amy pulled out her hammer. "What are you doing here, you piles of scrap metal?" Knuckles called, flexing his muscles threateningly.

What happened next was so fast that if Amy had blinked, she would have missed it. With unnerving speed, the dog flung itself towards them, its metallic hands outstretched, black visor glinting ominously, and Knuckles only just managed to roll out of harm's way. With a snarl, he rolled to his feet, and he dove forwards, one hand lashing out in a hard punch, but the dog caught his hand with its own, forcing Knuckles off balance as it executed a blindingly fast spinning kick that sent the echidna flying backwards-

Tails threw himself forwards, twisting into a spinning kick, and managed to whip the dog across the face with his two tails. He may as well have brandished a feather at it for all the good it did, for the dog seized his tails in one hand and swung him around its head like a lasso, allowing its monkey-like companion to leap up a deal the fox blow after crushing blow-

With a shriek, Amy sprinted forwards, slamming her hammer harshly into the center of the dog's visor. A spider web of shallow cracks appeared upon it but it did not shatter, and the dog immediately released Tails, who flew through the air before his tails spun out to slow his fall, and turned its attention towards Amy. The dog tried to land an uppercut punch upon her but Amy jumped backwards, retaliating in a twist kick that the dog deflected with the side of its armoured arm. With a snarl, it unleashed a mass of lightning fast blows upon her, and she would not have been able to get out of harm's way if not for Knuckles, who flung himself in the dog's path with a roar of denial, forcing his arms into a cross in front of his face, his shoes digging into the metallic ground as he took the punches that had been meant for her without wincing in pain.

"NO!" Amy screamed, starting forwards, not really knowing what she was intending to do, but before she could, Knuckles had launched himself at the dog with a feral snarl, the force of his lunge knocking the robot over, and he proceeded to punch its helmet with all the force he could, slamming his fists upon its visor, his metal knuckles forming small puncture marks in the armour, but then the dog rolled out from beneath him and pinned him to the floor, mauling the echidna so ferociously that Amy felt sickened at the roars of pain Knuckles uttered-

"STOP!" she screamed, and with that, she flung her hammer from herself, the speed at which it was flying reducing it to little more than a pink and pine coloured blur, but the dog, somehow able to sense the weapon hurtling towards its back, leapt into the air, jumping abnormally high, and as it hurtled back towards the ground, one leg was drawn to its chest, the other extended, and Amy knew that the force of its contact with the broken Knuckles would be enough to kill him-

Amy acted instinctively; she threw herself forwards, her arms thrust out from her chest, and as she skidded across the ground, she shoved Knuckles out of harm's way. Time seemed to freeze, and her dark green eyes locked onto Knuckles bewildered purple ones, and all the sound had been sucked from the room, the noises from the furious battle going on between Tails and the other robot dulled into non-existence, and then time unfroze, bringing with it an excruciating pain that exploded in her lower back .

A gasp of agony was wrenched from her lips as Amy's world became a dark swirl of colour, all thoughts driven from her mind, she couldn't feel her legs, and then, as if from an eternity away, she heard someone shouting, "No! Amy! _No!" _

She could no sooner have identified the speaker than banished the pain running through her, but she felt, in a disembodied sort of way, someone kneeling beside her, heard the annoying tapping that came from a keyboard, and then there was a blinding flash of purple light, that, once it dispersed, took with it the pain that had exploded from the small of her back, and the world solidified from its chaotic swirling state into the dimly lit room, her mind cleared, the feeling in her legs returned, and Amy sat up, feeling completely disoriented, just in time to see Tails blasted backwards by a beam of cyan light that slammed into his chest, shot from the tiny cannons that the monkey robot had for arms-

In a fraction of a second, Amy caught up on everything that had happened; Tails had healed her, somehow, incredibly, and the price of doing so had cost him the chance of defending himself. With a cry of denial, she jumped to her feet and unleashed her rage upon the monkey, slamming it against the wall, pinning its cannons against the wall by spreading one hand across its body, not giving it enough room to even squirm, and she curled her hand into a fist, slamming it against the monkey's visor so hard that the visor began to crack, much more serious than what had befallen the dog's visor, and after what felt like a hundred punches, her hand was aching, but the visor was on the verge of cracking enough to reveal who was beneath it-

Suddenly, there was a noise like a massive vacuum cleaner turning on, and her world was obscured by thick white smoke, smelling so horrible that Amy gagged, and she immediately released the mauled monkey in favour of pulling up her dress and covering her mouth and nose with it, trying to protect herself from the rancid, stinking smoke. She clenched her eyes shut, doing her best to hold her breath, knowing that nothing good would come from inhaling the smoke. Blinded and unable to breath, Amy could still hear, and her ears were filled with Knuckles' and Tails' coughing, the sound of the monkey and dog moving through the smoke, and the unmistakable sound of the smoke being sucked out of the room.

By the time she felt it was safe to breath, Amy's lungs were burning from lack of air, and she sank to her knees, gasping for breath, her eyes sliding open as she did so. She heard either Knuckles or Tails coughing beside her, and she struggled to her feet, gazing about to assess their situation, and she immediately froze.

She barely registered Tails, who was slumped in a corner of the room, shaking his head experimentally, or the door with a green light in the middle of the wall opposite them. What she did notice was that the room seemed to have expanded to twice its original size, that there was a massive, black vacuum-like thing retreating into the depths of the ceiling, and that the two robots were once more in the middle of the room, both looking worse for the wear, the dog emitting a shower of blue sparks every few seconds, both of their visors smashed.

Behind them, wearing a smug smile that was barely visible beneath his bushy brown moustache, was Eggman, towering over his two robots.

"How nice of you to finally join us!" Eggman cried, his tinted blue sunglasses flashing ominously.

"Cut the crap," Knuckles snarled, clawing himself upright beside her.

"Yeah," Amy hissed, slipping into a half crouch beside him. "We know you don't give a shi-"

"Now, now, there's no need for swearing!" the doctor reprimanded her, wagging a gloved finger towards them, as if proper manners were important. "I should think you'd be happier at this great reunion!"

"What are you talking about?" demanded Knuckles, tensing beside her.

Eggman's beady black eyes flashed superiorly behind his glasses, his smiling mouth curling into a sneer. "Surely even a knucklehead such as yourself would have figured it out by now!"

When Amy and Knuckles merely exchanged sceptical glances, the doctor let out a bark of laughter, then snickered, "I suppose you won't figure it out on your own. Cream, Cheese, reveal yourselves."

Amy felt as though her heart had been plunged into a bucket of ice. _Cream and Cheese? _She thought, shaking her head in denial, as though refusing to believe Eggman's words would make his statement untrue. But the robots' visors were collapsing into sections, until they had slid back into their helmets entirely. Cream was looking out at them from inside the dog's helmet, wearing a blank expression appropriate to a dream walker's, her dark brown eyes unknowing.

Cheese sat on her shoulder, his onion shaped head barely fitting inside his helmet, looking just as blank as his friend. Understanding coursed through Amy as she stared at the two in horror. _That's why I recognized the dog's voice, _she thought. _It was Cream's! And the monkey – what am I talking about? – Cheese never spoke because all he can say is 'Chao!' it woulda been too much of a give away!_

"Surprised, are we?" Eggman taunted, folding his spaghetti arms across his immense chest. "It was so much fun watching to see if you pathetic fools would figure out who was piloting my planes! And of course..."

But Amy was not paying attention to what else Eggman had to say, for Knuckles had stepped purposely on her foot.

"What?" she breathed, barely moving her lips, not moving her eyes from Eggman's ranting form.

"You've gotta get past them to get to Sonic," Knuckles responded, effortlessly matching her skill. "Count to ten, then catapult yourself over them to get to the door. Blink twice if you got that."

Amy obediently blinked twice, her mind racing. Knuckles made a barely audible noise of satisfaction, and then continued. "The password to the door outside where Eggman's got Sonic is 'Chaos Control', Rouge told me. Blink once if you've got that."

Amy blinked once, then murmured, "But what about you and Tails?"

"Don't worry about us," Knuckles answered flatly. "We got past Illumina okay, he'll be a cinch. Now start counting! No matter what he says or does in the next ten seconds, ignore him."

Amy blinked once to show she understood, then launched into counting. _One...two..._

"I suppose you think you'll be able to overpower me and reach your pal, Sonic?" Eggman sneered, as if such a feat were impossible. "That you'll be able to rescue him without interference?"

_Three...four..._

"It's not a matter of thinking," Knuckles retorted. "But of knowing. No human-shaped balloon's gonna stand in our way!"

Eggman took a step forwards, his gloved hands curling into fists. "There is no way you will be able to overpower Cream and Cheese! Not when they're under my command! I don't know how you got this far without a fatality, but I assure you-"

"TEN!" Amy screamed aloud, and she slammed her hammer upon the floor before her so forcefully that she rocketed over Eggman's head, coming to a graceful stop just in front of the door, which slid open at her touch.

"_Sop her!" _Eggman shrieked, but his cry was drowned out once the door slid shut, and Amy was past caring what he did to stop her. She was sprinting so fast that her legs appeared blurred, her breath coming in laboured gasps, her eyes narrowed, fixed upon the massive, vault-like door at the end of the hallway, Knuckles' words still ringing through her mind.

_We got past Illumina okay, Eggman'll be a cinch._

Hadn't she heard those words before? Hadn't the last time someone had spoken them, everything had turned out wrong?


	16. A Waning Moon

"Hey!"

The voice was one that Amy's racing brain did not care to recognize, but it acted as fuel for her death sprint, prompting her to go even faster. The sound of her footsteps echoed off the doorless walls, and she regarded the pain in her chest, the harshness of her breathing as the pain she needed to endure before she could save Sonic.

"Stop!" the sounds of footsteps echoed from behind her, and a thrill of fear went through her; if she was not fast, she would be caught just outside the door barring her from Sonic, and that would be the harshest of twisted jokes, the ultimate slap in the face.

But the fates were clearly shining upon her, or perhaps she had a very slow pursuer. Either way, she reached the end of the hallway without interference, and she threw herself against the wall, her eyes roving around for a keypad. She saw spotted it, a thin black protrudence with a slit for a screen, the keys ultra thin.

With shaking fingers, she typed in 'Chaos Control' and lapsed into a beat of oppressive silence that pressed in on her ears, too huge to be contained, a second stretched into an eternity, and eternity that ended in a satisfied electronic beep, followed by a booming click from somewhere beyond the door.

_Maybe Rouge has some good in her after all._

But it did not open.

And then Amy realized that she was not yet done; there was a stainless steel contraption before her, one that she could compare only to the wheel of a pirate ship, and, with a gasp of resolve, she wrapped her hands around two of the spikes and began to turn. It was agonizingly slow work, work that caused her muscles to burn with exertion and required her entire body.

After what felt like hours, she managed to turn the wheel four times, and Amy knew that whoever was running after her must be closing in-

But at long last, there was a resounding click, and the heavy, vault-like door cracked open. Amy slid into the tiny crack and slammed the door shut behind her. She heard a loud sound that made her think that the wheel must be spinning back into position, but her mind had long since stopped worrying about the threat of the person behind her.

Sonic was sitting before her, an expression of total shock upon his face, chained to the wall by four metal chains, and she noticed that the places where they were attached to the wall had long cracks in them. He looked completely unharmed, other than for the fact that he looked completely exhausted and stressed out, not to mention that there were several unmoving laser sights fixed upon his forehead.

She suddenly understood the reason for his shocked expression, and after several seconds of silence punctuated only by her gasps for breath, he seemed to decide that she was not in any immediate danger of getting shot.

"Amy?" Sonic asked, and his voice was hoarse from lack of water. Amy's heart wobbled precariously in her chest, for the sound of his voice saying her name was better than bliss. "Where's Tails?"

"I don't know," Amy answered breathlessly, and Sonic's ears twitched in annoyance. "Him and Knuckles are back there with Eggman, and-"

But she suddenly remembered that there was someone outside, trying desperately to capture her, and whether it was Cream or Cheese or someone completely different she did not know or care. Her heart hammering in her chest, Amy pulled out her hammer, and whispered, "There's someone outside."

Sonic nodded, for it was hard for one to ignore the loud clicking of the gears of the metallic wheel turning. "Can you get these damn things off of me?" he asked, giving his arms a little shake and causing the chains that bound him to rattle. Amy gave a little start, then nodded, leaping into the air and pulling her hammer high above her head, ignoring the sense of déjà vu that went through her as she slammed it upon the metal links.

Already weakened from Sonic's extensive straining, the top chain snapped in half with a metallic groan, one that was echoed by the exhausted Amy. But she knew that she might be groaning from much worse than that if she did not hurry up, and so she hastily repeated her actions three more times. Sonic leapt to his feet as soon as he was free, rubbing is wrists frantically, and expression of utmost relief upon his face.

"Thanks," he whispered fervently, giving her a hasty hug and Amy blushed spectacularly, a blush that disappeared when she heard the grinding of gears increase in volume. She knew that capture was imminent, unless they could somehow disappear.

"Can you get us out of here?" she asked Sonic, panic making her illogical, for there was no way he could have any knowledge of the hallway outside the vault. Nevertheless, Sonic nodded his head, his bright green eyes fixed upon the heavy door, behind which came a snarl of satisfaction, followed by a resounding clang.

"Whatever you're going to do, do it quick," Amy whispered, her heart fluttering in panic.

Rouge pulled the heavy, vault-like door open, her heart pounding in her ears as she slipped inside, her fists clenched ready for an ambush. But the room beyond was deserted, albeit for the black swivel chair, broken chains, and vast collection of monitors displaying various views of Eggman's base. She took no comfort in the emptiness of the room, however; she knew that Amy had the ability to turn herself invisible, thanks to Tails' gadgets, and was more than likely hiding in the corner of the room with Sonic.

She felt her way around the room like a blind person, groping about for the feeling of fur, for a swish of fabric. But when she had felt her way around the entire room twice, crawled under the desk, and in a fit of fury, kicked the swivel chair against the wall, it became apparent that neither Sonic nor Amy was in the room.

Knowing that Eggman would be beyond furious at her failure to capture the hedgehogs – and it was with a sinking heart she realized that she was not going to get paid – she decided that it would be in her best interests to remove herself from the doctor's employ and try to help Knuckles and the others escape from Eggman's clutches.

"You're crafty sons of bitches, I'll give you that," Rouge growled, as she slipped out of the room.

Sonic waited until the heavy door above them had clanged shut before allowing himself to breathe a sigh of relief. He felt Amy shaking with relief beside him, and was so happy that he did not pull away from her tight embrace.

"How did you know this was here?" Amy demanded, pulling away and trying to stare at him through the suffocating blackness of the cramped space beneath the floor.

Sonic shrugged, a cocky grin spreading across his face. "When you're in prison, you start to look for escape routes in the unlikeliest of places."

Amy nodded, and Sonic felt that it was in both of their best interests to get out of the space as soon as possible. He jumped up, his hands above his head, and shoved the loose tile above him out of the way while simultaneously pulling himself out of the hole. Once he was out, he turned and grasped Amy's raised hands and pulled her out of the rectangular space, sliding the loose tile back into place with his foot.

"So you think Eggman's got Tails and Knuckles?" Sonic asked grimly, immediately releasing Amy's hands, and she nodded sadly, bowing her head in reminiscence.

"Knuckles told me I was the only chance they had of getting to you," Amy whispered, and then, quite abruptly, her head snapped up, her dark eyes shining with angry tears. "Sonic, Eggman's using Cream and Cheese to do his dirty work. I think he's...he's hypnotized them or something, they didn't look normal, he's got them dressed in these robotic suits, they were the ones who were flying the planes that shot the Tornado down!"

Sonic felt as though an iron hand was clenching his stomach, and fury rose up inside him, causing him to bare his teeth in anger. "He's _what?" _Sonic demanded, his fists clenching angrily. Without waiting for Amy to respond, he strode over to the door and wrenched it open, striding out into the open.

"Is Rouge helping you guys now?" he asked, as Amy hurried out after him, closing the door as quietly as she could.

"I don't know," Amy answered, and there was a snarl in her voice. "It's gonna take a bit more than a password for her to win me over," she took a deep breath, then continued. "Do you have any idea what Eggman's planning?"

"I think you're all about to find that out," came the doctor's snide, taunting voice from the empty space beyond, and suddenly, Eggman shimmered into view, holding one of Tails' comlinks. Sonic knew it had been taken by force, for the day Tails surrendered one of his inventions willingly to his biggest rival, Rouge would put on decent shirt.

Before Sonic could do more than snarl and place himself protectively in front of Amy, the doctor had hissed, "Get them!"

And, quite abruptly, Sonic felt two strong, ice cold arms seize him from behind, so that he was suspended above the ground in an unbreakable grip. Amy, however, spun around with a shriek and whacked Cheese's tiny form out of the air with the head of her hammer, unrestrained fury upon her face.

"Run!" Sonic shouted, writhing furiously against Cream's grip in attempt to get free, but Amy turned to him, resolve sparkling in her narrowed eyes, and she made to attack Cream, but then two things happened at once.

Cheese jumped into the air between them, and with a furious shout of "Chao!" he pointed one of his laser cannons at Amy's face and fired a cloud of violent orange gas at her. At the same time, Rouge, who he had somehow not seen before, sprinted into view, shouting, _"NO!" _and she pulled Amy out of the cloud, but it was too late; his friend was as limp as a doll, her chest rising and falling with deep, unconscious breaths.

Eggman let out a note of maniacal laughter, and with a snap of his fingers, Cream and ripped Amy away from Rouge and suspended her in the air beside Sonic, while the doctor grabbed Rouge by the arm and leaned in offensively close to her face, snarling, "Change of heart, eh?"

"Get your filthy paws off of me!" Rouge snarled, trying to throw him off, but Eggman let out a mirthless laugh and pulled both her arms behind her back, gripping her police-to-fugitive – style.

"And now, for the grand unveiling!" Eggman cried, and suddenly, the floor beneath them gave a great shudder and began to sink downwards into complete blackness.

Sonic assumed, from how no one was screaming in terror, that this was what was supposed to happen. He knew that whatever was awaiting them in the darkness was not good, for Eggman had finally achieved his ultimate goal; capturing both the sun and the moon.

He writhed and twisted against Cream's iron grip, but she would not release him, not speaking as she held him and Amy in mid air, and from the grunts and snarls coming from the darkness before them, he could tell Rouge was trying to escape as well.

_She probably knows what the hell's waiting for us at the bottom, _Sonic thought, and his twists became even more violent, for he did not take comfort in the probability.

He knew they were hundreds of miles below ground, that there was no help coming for them. He had no idea where Tails and Knuckles were, and he regarded their absence as one of his limbs missing; he was incomplete without them.

Eventually, they came to a grinding halt, and for a moment, nothing happened, and then, the lights went on, loud booms occurring as the room was filled with light in sections. After an eternity, the massive room was completely light, and Sonic's heart pounded painfully in his ears as he took in the enormity of the room, which had black tiled linoleum flooring and blindingly white walls and ceiling. He could not fathom what would require such space until he saw the machine before him.

It occupied most of the middle of the room, and resembled nothing more than a titanic, metallic bronze ball. Huge grey tubes ran from its top to the ceiling, and there was a compartment in the middle, enclosed by a glass door. Dwarfed beside it was a tiny silver chain constructed of metal, and what looked like a black, upside down bowl was hovering unsupported at head level above it.

"Welcome to your doom," Eggman declared ominously, throwing Rouge from him and striding forwards to face Sonic and Amy, a superior smile upon his face. He snapped his fingers sharply as he realized that Amy was unaware of the severity of her predicament, and barked, "Cream!"

"I'm on it, doctor," Cream responded, and she dropped Amy, extending a palm towards her blank face and immersing Amy in a cloud of purple gas. When it dispersed, Amy was standing there, her back rigid, looking furious, and she spun around to face Eggman, jabbing a finger towards the doctor, glaring at him with such ferocity that Sonic was amazed he didn't recoil.

"You son of a bitch!" she shouted, shaking with rage. "You can't just...just knock me unconscious and expect to get away with it! I won't let you!"

But before Amy could act on her furious declaration, Eggman's twisted smile took on an incredibly evil quality and he hissed, "You first."

"NO!" Sonic shouted, and with a burst of strength, he managed to throw Cream's grip off, and he threw himself towards the vile man before him, curled into a ball of rage-

But to his immense surprise, he froze a foot from the doctor's face, suspended upside down, and saw that Eggman had caught him, holding him fast in mid air before he could slam into his face. For a moment, they glared at each other, and then the doctor snarled, "Cheese."

"Chao!" came the little Chao's response, and then what felt horribly like a gun was pressed to the side of Sonic's head.

He heard Amy and Rouge gasp in horror, and the doctor let out an insane chuckle. "That's right, Amy. I'm going to blast your little friend's brains out if you don't comply."

"Let him go!" Amy shouted, but Sonic roared, "Amy, don't worry about me, just _run!"_

"Shut up!" snarled Eggman and he felt Eggman punch him hard in the stomach, causing his breath to rush out of his lungs in a huff.

"STOP IT!" Amy screamed. "I'll do whatever you want, just _don't hurt him!"_

Sonic could not gather enough air to warn Amy, and it was like being trapped in a nightmare to endure what happened next. Eggman made a satisfied noise and hissed, "Good. The faster you comply, the longer your friend lives."

"What do you want?" Amy half sobbed, easily falling for Eggman's lie.

"Transform," Eggman commanded. "And then get into my machine."

"NO!" Sonic managed to shout, earning another punch to the stomach. Amy let out a gasp as the blow struck him, but she seemed to have retained some of her logic, for she whispered, "I'll never get into that machine, never!"

Eggman simpered. "Well then, I'll just have to force you! Cream, drag the girl!"

"NO!" Sonic roared, but he was so breathless it only came out in a gasp. "It's me you want, take me instead!"

Eggman laughed, his fingers tightening around him as Sonic began to writhe and twist. "Oh I shall," grinned the doctor, a look of pure evil upon his face as he leaned in, his beady eyes flashing behind his sunglasses. "But don't you think that watching her being tortured is just as good as the real thing?"

An enraged snarl was ripped from Sonic's lips, and he resisted the urge to spit in Eggman's face only because he knew that Amy's fate would be a thousand times worse if he did. "You're a twisted son of a bitch," he growled, his fists clenching.

Eggman's evil smile only widened. "Ah..." he murmured, sounding almost thoughtful. "Do you _love _her, Sonic? Is this where all that rage is coming from?"

His words acted as the trigger to ignite Sonic's adrenaline. With a wordless snarl, he broke free of Eggman's grip and flipped backwards in a somersault kick, his feet catching Eggman under the chin and causing the doctor to spiral away from him. As he landed hard on the ground, breathing more heavily than he had in his entire life, Sonic prepared to launch himself upon the doctor once more, but Eggman shouted, "Cheese, stop him!"

Sonic whirled around, his fists clenched, and was just in time to see a blast of cyan energy hit him straight in the face. His roar of pain died in his throat as unconsciousness assaulted him like a group of storm troopers.

"SONIC, _NO!" _Amy screamed, fighting against Cream's iron grip as the rabbit dragged her away from the place where Sonic had just hit the ground like a sack of rocks. Choking back terrified sobs, Amy whispered, "Cream, don't you recognize me? Think about what you're doing! About who you're working for!"  
Cream did not answer, and Eggman laughed harshly at her from across the room, rubbing his chin and wincing slightly. "She can't hear you, Amy!" the doctor laughed, a cruel, insane sound. "And Sonic will never hear anything ever again if you do not comply!"

To press his point, Cheese, displaying incredible strength for someone so tiny, heaved Sonic into the air and pressed his still-smoking laser cannon to her friend's limp head, his tiny face alight with malice that was not his own. A gasp of horror caught in Amy's throat, and her struggles against Cream's iron grip faded into non existence; she could not even summon the strength to move when the rabbit threw her bodily from her, slamming her against the massive bronze machine Eggman had constructed.

"Now," hissed Eggman, his face transported with anticipation. "Transform, unless you want to see just how much blood Sonic's got in his head."

As Amy stared into Eggman's face, a face of pure evil, a face displaying no trace of a bluff, she knew she would have to comply. She was not brave like Sonic, or able to face sacrifice like Cosmo. She could not lose the thing she prized most, the thing she placed above her own life. Amy closed her eyes and forced herself upwards, and as she stood there, facing mortal agony, she finally understood what Void's test meant.

The Maginaire's words rang through her head as she stood there, trying to force herself to transform. _I am merely here to test your willingness to do the impossible, to better serve the world. _And he had been right to test her, for somehow, he knew that she was not strong enough to do what she must, for Mobius' sake. She might be able to hit a hallucinatory Sonic in the face with her hammer, but she could not stand by and allow Eggman to blow her friends brains out.

And suddenly, memories flooded her mind like a mass of rushing water, memories of her first and only date with Sonic, of how his lips had felt against hers, willing life back into her when Illumina had killed her by accident, of that one kiss they had shared outside the Temple of Light, an eternity ago-

And then she felt it, the sense of unrestrained power flowing through her veins, a heat coursing over her that had not been there before, her love for Sonic giving her the strength to open her eyes. She saw Cream looking at her with blank indifference, saw Eggman staring at her with undisguised greed on his face as he whispered, "Amazing!" She saw Rouge, who everyone seemed to have forgotten about, freeze in her attempt to free Tails and Knuckles, who she had not noticed before, the bat's eyes wide with wondrous terror as she took in her silver fur, her strange glow.

Tails and Knuckles were shouting muffled warnings at her, writhing desperately in attempt to slip out of the tight black ropes that bound them together, trying to speak through their gags, their eyes huge with fear. Smiling slightly, Amy shook her head, and returned her gaze once more to Eggman, who had composed his face into a mask of confidence.

"Good," breathed the doctor, his caffeine-stained teeth revealing themselves as he bared his teeth in a sinister smile. "Now get into the machine."

Amy did not even considering disobeying, not when she held Sonic's life in her glowing hands. With only the slightest trickle of effort, Amy rose up into the air, flying slowly upwards, refusing to examine the prospect of death, that she may very well be about to leave the ground for the last time, that she might never hear Sonic's voice again.

And as abruptly as if she had screamed her thoughts at him, Sonic jerked into awareness, now no more than an indistinct blue dot, but his shout of utmost fury reached her as clearly as if they were feet apart.

"AMY, NO!" roared her friend, struggling to throw off Cheese. "GET DOWN FROM THERE! DON'T DO THIS!"

For the briefest moment, Amy thought about listening to him; she thought about teleporting to Eggman's side, to blasting him with a bolt of lightning, like she had done to Void in Nature Zone, about incapacitating Cheese and freeing Tails and Knuckles and helping them return Cream and Cheese to their normal states of mind. But that moment came and went, for she knew it was no more achievable than an idle fantasy. Her body automatically stopped when she was level with the glass door that led to the bowels of the machine, the door having slid open when they had been shouting at Eggman. Amy closed her ears to Sonic's desperate shouts, now laced with something she had never heard choking at his voice before. Sorrow. Fear. Both clawed at her heart like icy daggers, pleading for her to stop, but she was too far along in Eggman's scheme to turn back now.

Taking a deep breath, Amy turned and floated into the depths of the machine. Actually, compartment would be a better word to use, for there was barely enough room to stuff a large backpack in the space, let alone herself. Nevertheless, Amy gritted her teeth and crammed herself into the space, facing the outside, pressing her hands against the cool glass door imprisoning her as she stared down at what was happening below.

Eggman had vanished, presumably walking towards his chair and Cream was standing sentinel far below, as motionless as the ball she was trapped inside. She could see Sonic's dark blue dot darting around, trying to get out of the miniscule Cheese's grip, and saw the black, red and yellow dots of Rouge, Knuckles and Tails a little ways away, the bat evidentially still unable to free the others.

The sight of her friends, captured and bound, finally managed to break through her iron curtain of resolve, shattering it as easily as if it were a web of ice. Tears flowed easily down Amy's cheeks, and she slammed her fists against the glass that was imprisoning her, kicking at the cold, unforgiving walls that pressed in around her, screaming for what she wanted most.

"LET ME OUTTA THIS THING!" she demanded, her hands burning from their fruitless pounding. "SONIC! GET ME DOWN! _LEMME OUT!"_

She could hear Sonic shouting her name, as if from the end of a long tunnel, sounding faint and slow. She screamed for him, and he shouted for her, and then time seemed to freeze, stretching itself into an eternity as she realized that she was never going to see him up close again, that Eggman had never intended to give her that liberty.

And then, a soft, mechanical humming sounded from all around her, growing louder very slowly, until it was a dull roar in her ears, not quite managing to drown out Sonic's agonized shouts-

Then the pain came, smacking her in the face like a punch from an iron giant. It was unendurable, mortal agony, like being immersed in acid, her insides lit on fire, doused in icy water, pummelled by a meteorite, streaking through the sun and coming out the other end, drowning and burning alive and corroding into a pile of ash all at once. Amy screamed and screamed, her throat burning raw from the pitch of her screams, thrashing and twisting inside her cruelly small prison, the pain of her limbs smacking against her metal confines nothing, _nothing, _compared to what she was going through, and yet she knew, some logical corner of her brain knew, that the pain must continue, that she must endure, for the moment it stopped, it would either end her life, or mark the start of Sonic's torture.

But how do you endure something impossible?

Her ears were burning from the pitch of her screams, her whole body was screaming for release, for the end of the pain, but the machine had no mercy, relentlessly pounding her body through a sea of agony, her very ions were on fire, her blood had turned to acid, her heart pumping torture through her veins-

And then suddenly, inexplicably, it ended. Amy's final scream petered out, and she collapsed against the glass, her cheek pressed against its blissful coolness, her whole body was twitching and shaking, her breath coming in short, ragged bursts. She felt impossibly weak, her body was a throbbing mass of pain that burned with each heartbeat, and death, she thought, would have been preferable.

_What's worth this? _Asked her fading consciousness. _What could possibly be worth this agony?_

She did not get the chance to answer her question, for her blissful moment of peace came to a violent, agonizing end in the form of the return of the pain, which had, if possible, increase by a hundredfold. It was a million slaps in the face, testing the depths of her endurance, and her own screams deafened her, tethering her to consciousness by setting her every nerve on fire. The torture consumed her, she couldn't think, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't remember anything, not even her own name, the only thing in the world, the only thing there had ever been, would ever be, was this agony...

She did not know how long she screamed, could not time how long she was murdered without somehow, impossibly, dying. All she knew was that after what felt like eons, the pain ended, and the machine, as if from an incredibly long way away, made a satisfied noise, and the loud roar of the cruel machine died down. Amy collapsed against the glass, unable to move, shaking like a jackhammer, and she could not comprehend why the door that imprisoned her was sliding downwards like a ramp, allowing her limp form to slip down it.

And then she was falling through open space, tumbling end over, and as the whistle of speed-induced winds sounded in her ears, Amy thought, in an odd, disembodied sort of way, that the impact with the ground would be nothing, _nothing, _compared to what she had just endured, and she thought it cruel that after all that, she was about to be finished by an abrupt contact with solid ground-

Out of the blue, two strong arms caught her around the middle, knocking what little amount of oxygen she had managed to reclaim from her lungs. "Gotcha," came a low, feminine voice, from what seemed like a very long way away. "It's gonna take more than that to finish you off, eh?"

Amy could not respond; she was too weak to even understand what the words meant, let alone construct a coherent response. In what seemed like no time at all, she had landed on the blissfully cool metal floor, and her saviour released her. Amy would have been quite happy to remain there, but another voice, one she recognized as Tails, seemed to have other ideas.

"Rouge," called the fox, sounding frantic. "Take Amy's comlink and type in 'Super Heal'."

"You got it," the low voice replied, and Amy felt her wrist be lifted up, accompanied by an annoying electronic clicking. Then, her world was lost in a flash of dark purple light, and Amy felt the pain, the weakness that had clenched her in its flaming grip, be dispelled, and when the light dispersed, she felt as good as she had before entering the machine, better, in fact. Choking back a bewildered gasp, Amy raised her head, which no longer ached, but was spinning like a top, and focused with some difficulty upon Tails and Knuckles. The two of them were still bound together, and were gazing at her in identical masks of utmost horror. Rouge was crouched beside her, all anger she harboured for her gone, replaced by something remarkably like concern.

"How...how - ?" Knuckles choked out, but Amy suddenly realized that someone was missing from their group. She pushed herself upright and saw, to her horror, that Sonic was being dragged through the air, towards the machine by Cheese, and the hedgehog was writhing and twisting so furiously that his form appeared blurred.

"No," she gasped, her dark green eyes huge with fear. "No, I've got to stop him, he can't –"

She made to dart forwards, but someone caught her arm, holding her fast. Amy spun around, terrified fury igniting in her heart, but when she gazed into Rouge's eyes, narrowed in concerned defiance, she knew it was not worth the effort to get to Sonic.

"We can't help him right now," the bat said, releasing her arm when she saw reason returning to Amy's face. "But we can help the others."

Amy nodded, gulping down the hot bile that rose in her throat, and, with a shaking hand, plucked her headband out of her hair, flicking her wrist and causing a thin silver blade to spring out of the side. She rushed towards where Knuckles and Tails were bound, and began to cut at the thick ropes binding them together, hissing, "Careful!"

Rouge hovered over them, evidently unsure as to what she was supposed to do, and for a moment, no one spoke, Amy working in hurried silence, Knuckles, Tails and Rouge watching her progress. Just as she managed to cut through the ropes binding their torsos together, Sonic's tortured shouts roared into existence, muffled by the bulk of the machine and glass, but each shout, each yell, was as good as an electric shock to Amy, and she flinched with each one.

"Ouch!" Tails hissed, as one of Amy's more violent jumps caused her blade to slip and cut his leg shallowly.

"Sorry!" Amy gasped, picking up her headband and, in a burst of distracted strength, sliced through the remaining rope fibres. Tails immediately jumped to his feet, rubbing his wrists, followed instantly by Knuckles, who had savaged his own ropes with his metal knuckles.

Amy was unable to focus, to even begin to come up with a plan, not with Sonic's roars of agony berating her. Tails, his eyes betraying his pain, took charge, his mouth set in a determined line. "Rouge," he said, glancing at the bat. "You've gotta hover outside the machine and catch Sonic when he comes out. "

Rouge winked her azure shadowed eye and took off, speeding through the air towards the massive bronze ball. Knuckles watched her go, the faintest trace of concern upon his face, but his eyes snapped onto Tails as the fox continued to speak.

"When Sonic comes out, we're gonna have to be ready to take on Cream, Cheese and Eggman."

"Eggman?" Knuckles snorted, unimpressed. "I could crack him in two and serve him sunny side-up."

Amy threw him a withering glance. "Are you serious?" she cried, exasperated. "Why do you think he just put me through that? He's draining our powers, and when he comes out, he's gonna be ten times more powerful than Illumina was."

The confident smirk was wiped off Knuckles' face, and Amy took no pleasure in that. She turn to stare at Cream, who was standing at the base off the massive bronze ball, staring unseeingly into space, unaware of the movement going on around her. Cheese was hovering at her side, just as blank, and Eggman was jerking and twitching in his chair, the black bowl covering his entire head, so he had no hope of seeing what they were doing.

With agonized eyes, Amy shifted her gaze to stare up at the place where Sonic's dark blue form was bouncing off the tiny walls of his prison, his yells of pain clawing at her heart. _Don't worry, Sonic, _she thought, her fists clenching. _If I could survive it, so can you._

But that made it no less painful to watch her friend being tortured, his powers being sucked out of him in the most painful way possible, and Amy was certain that that was all part of Eggman's plan. She raised one arm, casting a wistful glance at her now pink fur, a mark of just how normal she had become. Their greatest advantage over Eggman had been stripped away.

And then, the dull roar of the machine stopped, as did Sonic's shouts, and with the faintest hiss, the door to the bowels of the ball opened, allowing Sonic's shockingly limp form to tumble out of it. Before he could fall, Rouge had swooped upon him, catching him up in her arms and streamlining her body as she sprinted through the air towards him. Amy, incredibly, felt a pang of jealousy course through her as she watched the bat carry her friend, wishing she had the capability to carry him to safety. But her jealousy was short lived, for the moment Rouge touched the ground, the emotion morphed to horror. Sonic was, at the very least, unconscious, his breath coming in short, shallow bursts, his face deathly pale.

"Oh no!" she gasped, flipping open her comlink and pummelling the letters that would spell 'Super Heal'. Immediately, a burst of purple light exploded out of the yellow device, encircling Sonic, but when it vanished, the hedgehog was still unconscious.

"What's wrong with him?" Amy demanded, terror reducing her voice to a squeak, watching with huge eyes as Rouge lowered him to the ground.

"Nothing," Tails said quietly, clapping her gently on the shoulder. "Super Heal's designed to heal your injuries, not return you to consciousness. He'll be perfectly fine when he wakes up."

Amy swallowed hard, her eyes brimming with tears. Never before had she seen Sonic looking so weak, so vulnerable. She had always thought of him as an ever-standing, unrelenting beacon of strength and shining hope, immortal, if you would, but seeing him unconscious made her realize that, no matter how high the pedestal she placed him on, Sonic was still mortal.

But her turmoil was interrupted by a harsh, demented cackle, sounding from Eggman's direction. With a gasp, Amy's head jerked up painfully fast, an act mirrored by Rouge, Tails and Knuckles. The human had got to his feet, his red blazored form shaking with maniacal laughter as he got to his feet.

"Ha ha ha ha ha!" Eggman shouted, his form glowing silver, a gold current running over his body. "And now, prepare to meet your doom, hedgehogs! Your downfalls approach! Cream, Cheese, finish them!"

An ear-splitting crack rent the air as a lightning bolt of silver energy struck Eggman, drowning out their united shout of, "NO!" The moment Eggman disappeared, Rouge shook her head in something remarkably like wonder, turning to stare at Amy with glinting eyes.

"If Sonic didn't survive that machine," she said slowly, shaking her head in slow exasperation. "I sure as hell have no idea how you did."

"We've got bigger problems than that right now," Knuckles interrupted, and Amy's flare of gratitude for Rouge's part-compliment flickered and died at his words.

"Oh yeah?" she asked, raising her eyebrows, unsure what was more important than Eggman stealing their powers, or Sonic's incapacitation.

"Yeah," Knuckles said grimly, pointing at the advancing forms of Cream and Cheese, their faces alight with rage that was not their own.

Amy let out a faint growl, while Knuckles, Tails and Rouge slipped into poses of various offense and defence. Not in their right minds they may be, but she was not about to allow Cream and Cheese to injure any more of them, not after what they had brought about.

"Stand back, Cream," Tails called, a menacing growl building in his chest. "You don't know what you're about to do."

Cream's actions were response enough, for, with a high pitched snarl, she launched herself forwards, armoured fingers flexing. Tails ducked out of harm's way, but Knuckles lunged forwards to meet Cream, driving one of his fists into her navy stomach. The rabbit dug her feet into the metal ground, creating black skid marks and sparks, and she raised her hands, interlocking them with Knuckles', and they came to a gridlock, both snarling in each other's faces, a quivering, interlocked mass, neither about to relent in their pressing.

Cheese, meanwhile, let out a feral snarl of, "Chao!" and sped forwards, his tiny face alight with malice, and he collided hard with the side of Rouge's turned head. The bat gave a snarl of surprised fury, and she swatted the tiny Chao away, her teeth bared. The Chao retaliated by leashing several cyan blasts at her, but Rouge leapt into the air and flew out of harm's way, twisting into a mid air kick that the tiny Chao found only too easy to dodge, but that was the last Amy saw of the fight, for out of the corner of her eye, she saw Cream streaking towards her, a navy blue blur, one fist pulled over her shoulder, and instinctively, Amy whipped out her hammer and forced it horizontally in front of her face to block the blow. Cream's iron punch bounced off her, and the rabbit was thrown off balance, but Amy was too enraged to care. Her fists clenched upon her hammer's handle, and, to her bewilderment, bright pink flames sprung around its head.

Startled by this new development, Amy earned a crushing kick to the stomach, and a gasp of pain escaped her lips as she was thrown backwards, landing hard on her butt just beside where Sonic was sprawled. With an enraged snarl, she jumped to her feet and threw her hammer at the rabbit, a bright pink blur that sped towards Cream, who was unable to jump into the air in time; Amy's hammer slammed into her face, and the impact blasted her off of her feet, but before she could fly even ten feet, Knuckles, who was right in her path, leapt into the air into a backwards somersault kick and sent her yowling forwards, her metal armour skidding across the metal floor.

"GOT IT!" Tails shouted from behind her, and Amy whipped around to see that the fox had pinned the writhing Cheese onto the ground, facedown, and was clawing at what looked like a compartment hidden inside his armour. "SOMEONE HELP ME!"

Before Amy could dart forwards, Knuckles was there, pulling at the compartment with both hands, his face a contorted mask of effort and concentration.

"Amy?"

Amy gasped in surprise as she spun around, her hand flying to her throat, and she saw that Sonic was sitting upright, blinking confusedly, the heel of his hand pressed to his temple as he stared up at her. "What's going on?"

"Oh, Sonic!" she gushed, running forwards and flinging herself into his arms, joyous tears spilling over her cheeks. "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Sonic twisted uncomfortably in her grip; to be fair, it was as tight as the earth's pull on the moon. Amy released all but his hands, beaming at him, but she was wrenched out of her happy bubble by Rouge's growl of, "You're not so tough, ya stupid rabbit!"

Amy leapt to her feet, whirling around to see that Rouge had pinned Cream onto the ground, twisting one of her armoured arms so that it was touching her opposite shoulder blade, the rabbit's face contorted with fury as the bat pressed her face into the metal ground. But then, so fast Amy wasn't sure how it had happened, Rouge was flying backwards and Cream had flipped upright, her metal suit sparking and crackling, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of her mouth.

"See ya, Sonic!" Amy cried, sprinting away from him and scooping up her hammer as she ran. Cream spun around just in time to see her smack her hammer hard into her head, and with a gasp of pain the rabbit spiralled back onto the ground, hitting the ground like a sack of rocks. But Amy was merciless; dropping her hammer, she flung herself at Cream and sat on her lower back to make sure she couldn't move, pinning her arms to the ground with her hands.

"Rouge, gimme a hand here!" she cried, wrestling with the writhing rabbit. Rouge answered her plea immediately, her beautiful face enraged as she landed at her side, and as she bent down, Amy hissed, "Look for a compartment of some sort!"

They couldn't have been searching for more than five seconds when Rouge's sharp eyes spotted it. "There!" she growled, jabbing a finger at the rabbit's upper back, and now that it had been pointed out, Am saw faint grooves in Cream's armour, forming a square compartment lid.

Rouge immediately jumped upon it, her gloved fingers curled into stiff claws as she pried at the compartment, her teeth bared, arms shaking with effort. Amy was positively lying upon Cream in an attempt to subdue the bucking rabbit, who was evidently aware of what was going on and fighting her hardest to delay it.

Suddenly, Sonic was at her side, looking perfectly alert, and he pinned Cream's left arms upon the ground, kneeling upon her left side, wrestling the rabbit back into submission, a snarl of concentration upon his face. Gratefully, Amy slid over a little, focusing her efforts upon keeping Cream's right side under control.

"Gotcha!" Rouge hissed in triumph, for at last the compartment had come away with a satisfying click, thick strands of a glue-like substance attached to it. With a hiss of triumphant laughter, Rouge tossed the compartment lid away, and then, with gasps of incredulity, the three of them laid their eyes upon what was inside the compartment.

An orange blob of some sort of jelly-like substance was sitting inside, throbbing like some grotesque, gelatine heart. Amy imagined that it was pulsating in terror, for she had the strangest feeling that whatever the thing was, it was sentient.

"That's how he's controlling them!" Sonic muttered through bared teeth, pounding upon Cream with clenched fists in attempt to subdue her, and Amy felt a wave of comprehension wash over her. She looked up from her wrestling match to stare at Rouge, who was looking at the blob with an expression of disgust upon her face.

"We need – to get that...thing – offa her, Rouge!" Amy growled in between gasps for breath. "C'mon, we're not gonna be able to keep her down forever!"

Rouge's expression hardened with determination, and then she attacked the blob with bloodied fingers, her expression a contorted mass of concentration, growling with the effort of prying the thing loose.

"NO!" Cream shrieked, and Amy was surprised to hear that her voice had not returned to its normal, high pitched warble. "Get – off – of –me!"

"Not a chance, Cream!" Amy hissed, catching a backhanded slap in the face and retaliating by shoving the rabbit's face into the ground.

"This is for your own good!" Sonic growled, practically lying on top of her twisting form.

"Argh!" Rouge growled, a bead of sweat trickling down her forehead as she pulled at the thing, rising into a hunchbacked stand in effort to get more power, for the thing, despites its attempts to remain lodged inside Cream's power suit, was coming away, thick stands of glue trying to hold it back, desperate to keep Cream under its control.

As Cream's bucking kicks increased in ferocity, Rouge's grip upon the blob slipped, and it threatened to snap back into position.

"No!" Sonic shouted, his eyes narrowed to slits. "Don't let go!"

"We've worked too hard, Rouge!" Amy screamed, slamming her fist upon the rabbit's elbow. "Don't let it go to waste!"

"I – WON'T!" Rouge shouted, and on the last word, the thing finally came away, causing the bat to stagger and fall, the orange blob still in hand.

Cream gave a scream of utmost agony, and writhed so violently that Sonic and Amy were thrown backwards, and Amy staggered backwards, managing to keep her balance. Gasping for breath, she watched as Cream's back arched to breaking point, her huge brown eyes wide with incredulous pain and out of the corner of her eye, Amy saw the orange oval of jelly become a pile of glittering orange dust in Rouge's hands, sifting through the bat's clawed fingers and hitting the floor. At the same moment, Cream's navy blue suit dissolved into a sapphire coloured pile of sand, revealing the rabbit's custom orange dress and blue tie, and Cream's scream weakened into a gurgling moan. Then, her mouth slid closed, and she collapsed onto the floor where she moved no more.


	17. Rebirth and Revolution

Sonic's stomach dropped to his knees as Cream collapsed limply onto the metallic black floor, as pale as the dead, as unmoving as a corpse. With a sharp intake of breath, he dropped to his knees beside the rabbit, and at the same moment Cheese gave an agonized scream of "CHAO!" followed by the unmistakable thud of a tiny body hitting the ground. Neither he nor Amy nor Rouge turned, for they knew Tails and Knuckles would be watching over the little Chao.

"Oh, Cream!" Amy whispered, all her fury vanishing as she trembled into a kneeling position at the rabbit's head. "What did he do to you?" With a shaking hand, she reached out and placed a hand on her chest, an act none of them had been willing to commit, for if Cream really was dead, the fact that they could not feel a heartbeat would make it official.

At her gloved touch, however, Cream's eyes snapped open, and she stared bewilderedly up at the ceiling, looking completely bemused, and her eyes widened as she took in Sonic's, Amy's and Rouge's faces, all peering at her with wary interest. And then, very slowly, understanding bloomed upon her face, wiped instantly away by a look of utmost horror.

"Oh my..." Cream gasped, forcing herself upright, and Sonic was relieved to hear that her voice had returned to its usual high pitched pre-schooler warble. Her bright brown eyes were sparkling with tears as she stared beseechingly at Amy, who she seemed to find the least intimidating. "I...I..."

And with that incomplete statement, Cream threw herself into Amy's arms, sobbing uncontrollably. Amy's uncertainty melted away at this display of emotion, and she patted the shaking rabbit on the back, whispering, "It's okay, Cream, he can't hurt you anymore."

"That's not entirely true," said Tails, and Sonic looked around to see that he and Knuckles were walking forwards, both looking immensely relieved. Hovering at Knuckles' head level was Cheese, clothless once more, beaming at the sight of Cream, and with a squeal of, "Chao Chao!" he swooped forwards and nestled onto the rabbit's shaking shoulder.

It took several minutes to calm Cream down, along with Sonic, Tails, Amy and Cheese providing the best words of comfort any of them could think of, Knuckles and Rouge hovering awkwardly at the back of the group, but eventually, the rabbit disentangled herself from Amy, sniffling in a dejected sort of way, and allowed Tails to pull her to her feet.

"What happened, Cream?" Sonic asked, putting a hand on Cream's shoulder, looking intently into her eyes. Cream's expression was heartbreaking, her lower lip trembling, eyes still glassy with tears.

"I didn't mean t-to hurt any of y-you!" Cream whispered, sounding mortified, her vast eyes darting around to stare imploringly into the various faces surrounding her. "It was Eggman, a-all Eggman...Cheese wandered off o-on his own w-when I was v-visiting Knuckles a w-week ago-" everyone's eyes flickered to Knuckles' shocked face and back. "- and when he didn't c-come back I g-got worried, so I w-went to look for him, b-but I fell...into this hole...and then _he _caught me, and it was h-horrible...horrible...he made me _do _things and-"

Cream made to bury her face in her hands, but with the swiftness only he could achieve, Sonic caught her wrists, his eyes boring into hers.

"It's not your fault, Cream," he told her sternly, and the rabbit sniffed in disagreement. "And anyways, you didn't do any of it on purpose, nothing really bad came out of it anyway..." he sighed heavily, knowing that things were much worse than they had been before, and he was sure Cream did not believe his lie. "Eggman's fooled older people than you, Cream, and we don't blame you one bit."

"Absolutely not!" Amy and Tails cried in fervent agreement.

"Too true," muttered Rouge, and Knuckles nodded, still looking slightly shell shocked.

"Where's Eggman n-now?" Cream asked, wiping her eyes on the back of her white gloved hand.

Sonic shot a half glance at Tails, who shook his head infinitesimally. "We don't know," Sonic lied, for he had a sneaking suspicion as to where the doctor had gone. "But we aren't going to find out by staying in here. Anyone have any ideas?"

Everyone looked around, sharp eyes roving around for an escape. Sonic cast a half-glance at Rouge, who he hoped knew of a secret exit as she had been in Eggman's employ. Rouge looked utterly blank, and when she saw him looking at her questioningly, she shrugged and said, "Hey, don't look at me, darling. I'm just as confused as you."

Sonic knew she by her eyes that she was telling the truth; he himself could no sooner have picked out the place where they had dropped out of the ceiling than counted the tiles on the floor, and the room was doorless and windowless, without so much as a crack in the walls for them to squeeze through.

To everyone's surprise, Cream had an answer. "Over there!" she cried, pointing to an unremarkable stretch of wall about fifty feet away.

Everyone looked at her blankly, and Tails asked slowly, "But Cream...how can you remember?"

Cream winked at him, a joyless action. "I was hypnotized, not dead," she said darkly, and with that she turned and ran away from them, orange shoes clinking against the floor, Cheese a pastel blue dot at her shoulder. Sonic watched in heavy silence as the rabbit grew ever smaller, no more distinct than a creamy dot against the spotless white wall now.

Cream stopped when she was at the wall, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Rouge and Amy exchanging sceptical looks. But to his surprise, about ten meters of wall slid into the ground, revealing a dimly lit room whose contents he could not see. With a vigorous wave to them, Cream turned and darted into the space in the wall.

"Crafty squirt," muttered Rouge, before leaping into the air and swooping after the rabbit. Tails followed almost immediately, his two tails spinning out behind him as he raced after Rouge, and Knuckles followed. Amy darted after the echidna, scooping up her discarded hammer, and she turned to look at Sonic, her face shining with glee.

"Look what I can do!" she cried, squeezing her hammer's handle. To Sonic's bewilderment, bright pink flames erupted around its wooden head, mirroring the silver flames that she had conjured around it during that last battle with Illumina. He raised his eyebrows in incredulity, and Amy's face split into a delighted smile, a soft giggle escaping her lips. But Sonic knew he did not have time to unravel the mystery of Amy's new powers; he turned and sprinted away from her, easily passing Knuckles and almost as quickly tearing past Tails and taking the lead from Rouge. He hurtled to a fluent stop just inside the space in the wall, and what he saw caused him to freeze.

"Oof!" Amy cried, about five seconds later, and the sound of her body rebounding off of his tore Sonic away from his frozen staring. "Sorry!" he gasped, spinning around and pulling her to her feet. Amy looked too amazed to be annoyed, her dark green eyes widening incredulously as they took the contents of the room in.

As Rouge and Tails dropped out of the air to join them, followed instantly by Knuckles, gasps of surprise were wrenched from their lips. Sonic turned to see that Cream's hand was extended towards the depths of the room like a game show hostess, Cheese bobbing happily at her shoulder.

"What do you think?" asked the rabbit, a smile of delight spreading across her face as she took in their expressions.

Sonic did not answer. He couldn't have for the life of him; the room was just as massive as the one they had just left, albeit more dimly light and with no huge power-draining ball and a lower ceiling full. In ordered, straight lines that swept from one side of the room to the other, were vehicles of every size, shape and colour; every vehicle was branded with the bright yellow Eggman insignia, and Sonic cast a half-glance at Tails, whose jaw was set, eyes narrowed, but behind his mask Sonic could see the fox fighting with his desire to be unimpressed and to run forwards and examine everything.

Jewel bright planes, identical to the ones Cream and Cheese had piloted, were assembled before them like a fleet of aircraft waiting to be deployed into battle. Compact helicopters stood sentinel behind the planes, though Sonic was sure no one would use such a bulky vehicle. There were race cars and sports cars, tanks and – to Sonic's incredulity – bicycles. Hovercrafts sat on the ground, shrouded in the shadows, waiting to take off on a bubble of air. Motorcycles sat at the back, quietly powerful, and Sonic even saw the large, egg-shaped silver machine that Eggman often piloted when he ventured out of his labs, something he, Amy, Tails and Knuckles had dubbed the 'Egg Chair'.

"Is there a way out of here?" Sonic asked Cream, snapping his eyes away from the armada of technology to stare at the rabbit.

Cream nodded solemnly, her eyes wide. "There's an exit at the back, it's covered in leaves and stuff, no one can find it if they don't know where they're looking."

Sonic nodded, then turned to the group at large. "Alright," he said, finality ringing in his tone. "Pick whatever you want and get out of here as fast as you can. We'll meet up once we're clear."

"Right," said Rouge, her heavy lidded eyes glinting as she flew off towards the hovercrafts.

"Gotcha," Tails said, unable to suppress his excitement as he dashed off towards a ruby red plane, followed hesitantly by Cream and Cheese, who picked emerald green and oceanic blue planes respectively.

Amy stared around at the vehicles, looking unsure, and Sonic knew how she felt; he himself only ever ran anywhere, or else was ferreted by Tails in the Tornado, but he knew that if they were intending to go up against Eggman in the near future, he would need all the strength he could muster.

_Planes, nah, never learned how to fly one of those things, _he thought, watching as Tails settled himself in the coal black pilot's seat amidst a mass of technology. _Tanks, are you kidding? Race cars, no...sports cars, too slow...I'd love to take the Egg Chair out for a crash landing some other time...not a hovercraft..._

A grin spread across Sonic's face as his eyes settled upon the fleet of motorcycles; these were something he knew how to drive, and was amongst the fastest of the assembled mass. He leaped across the hood of a red car and turned a somersault before landing beside a dark blue motorcycle, the exact colour of his own fur. The Eggman insignia was barely visible, a tiny yellow face just below the windshield. A helmet was hanging off the handlebar, enclosed like a race car's, it's tinted black visor collapsed into sections.

With a sinking heart, Sonic realized it was too big, but he nevertheless shoved it on top of his head, compressing his quills. To his bewilderment, he felt various cushions full of air inflating, moulding the helmet to its shape. The visor joined together to form an enclosed cage around his head. The world outside darkened until it resembled night time, and at that moment, he heard three dull roars, followed almost instantly by the sonic booms of fighter jets taking off. He felt a mass of air whoosh past him as red, green and blue planes shot overhead.

Something moved beside him, and Sonic whirled around to see Amy settling herself upon a serpentine green motorcycle, pulling her helmet over her head. She cast her gaze towards him, and waved energetically when she saw him looking. Sonic winked back, though he wasn't sure she could see him. He turned away and settled himself upon the black gel seat, looking around. The dashboard was a mass of buttons and knobs whose functions escaped him, and he realized that he had no idea how he was supposed to start the machine.

"Uhh..."he said, completely bemused, but to his shock, a cool, female voice spoke, sounding for all the world like she was in the helmet with him.

"Welcome," she said, and his visor lit up with burning cyan letters that read 'Voice command activated', followed almost immediately by the question, 'AC on/off?"

"Um..."Sonic said, feeling incredibly stupid. His eyes flickered about to see if anyone was watching him, and then he answered hesitantly, "On?"

There was a soft blowing noise, and then the helmet's interior filled with cool, comfortable air. A savage grin spread across Sonic's face as he imagined Tails' expression at the impressive technology. "Can you make this thing go – WOAH!"

For the moment the word 'go' had formed on his tongue, the motorcycle shot forwards at a chaotic pace, and it was lucky that the motorcycles were arranged at the back, for he would have crashed into the nearest car if they weren't. Sonic grabbed onto the handlebars, fleetingly appreciating the terror Amy experienced when he carried her around at sonic speed, and shouted in bewilderment, "SLOW DOWN!"

The helmet seemed to obey his thoughts rather than his words, slowing from its chaotic pace to his idea of a controlled sprint. His eyes narrowing and mouth curled into a smile, Sonic's hands tightened around the handlebars and he leaned over slightly, saying, "Visor, clear!"

Immediately, the words glowing upon his visor – which had read, 'AC activated" – vanished, and his vision brightened and cleared until he could have been looking out of a pristine pane of glass. It took no time at all for him to roar past Knuckles' silver sports car, and he sped up slightly so as to overtake Rouge's black hovercraft. Tails, Cream and Cheese's planes were all out of sight, but he did not expect to catch up with them; the motorcycle had no chance of catching up with them.

The white strips lights above him had been blurred to a continual line of white, and the walls were reduced to a cement streak. As he approached a slight incline in the smooth road, he saw something moving out of the corner of his eye. His gaze flickered to the right, and he saw Amy, her pink hair flying out around her as it managed to escape from her helmet, her dress blowing slightly in speed-induced winds. Her visor, like his, was clear, and she beamed at him, winking in jubilance. Sonic raised one hand in thumbs-up, then shot forwards, leaving Amy in is relative dust, bending low over the dashboard.

_Let's see what this thing can do, _Sonic thought, and he pushed the motorcycle to maximum speed, holding it steady as it rocketed up the incline at a speed to rival his own, fighting G force to keep the bike upright, and then he slammed on the brakes, causing the motorcycle to lurch to a halt, standing on its front wheel. "MAX SPEED!" Sonic shouted, and with a dulled cat-like screech, the back wheel slammed against the ground, the front one rising up into the air, and he sprinted forwards in a wheelie.

An exhilarated grin spread across Sonic's face as the incline flattened out. He knew he should be worried, or trying to get focused as he contemplated the momentous task before him, but he couldn't bring himself back down to earth; he was having too much fun on Eggman's impressive – albeit stolen – motorcycle.

Eggman walked through the endless expanse of white light, buzzing with his stolen energy and with the thrill of a successful plan. Yes, Rouge switching sides had been a bit of a bump in the procession, and he had not expected Sonic or Amy to survive the pain of his machine, but he had escaped their clutches without suffering any harm, and what was more, with the power of the sun and the moon at his command!

_With any luck, Cream and Cheese will have finished them off, _Eggman thought, in a futile attempt to be hopeful. He knew that, mechanically engineered though the two may be, the five who had pitted themselves against them were unfortunately skilled in combat, and it was more than likely that they had discovered how he was controlling them and had disposed of the virus. A grudging growl escaped his lips; those two organisms had taken him six months to develop.

_No matter, _Eggman thought, his heart leaping with joy as he spotted a bright purplish-white portal in the distance. _I will soon have the means to crush those meddlesome creatures like the ants they are!_

In no time at all, he stood before the portal, staring intently into its obscured depths, marvelling at the warm glow that emanated off of it. If his suspicions were correct – and they normally were – than this portal would deposit in the place he desired to visit above all others. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Eggman stepped forwards and melted through the portal. It felt like stepping through a curtain of warm water, and what was waiting on the other side made him gasp in surprise.

He was standing in the strangest place he had ever been in, and he had been in a lot of strange places; Maginaryworld looked completely different from his first visit; Eggman found himself standing in a vast, endless expanse of green grass that was littered with massive, fallen trees that were shaped strangely like the engine cars of massive trains. Beyond the massive trees was a perfectly smooth azure ocean, and lying on top of it, floating as though it were as light as a feather, was a gargantuan flaming bird, its feathers the colour of a blood red sun, both eyes staring wide, unblinkingly up into the sky, massive yellow beak wide open, as if in shock.

Broken railway tracks littered the grass, and the sky was divided into perfectly equal halves of day and night by and unblended line, the daytime one a pristine, cloudless blue with a golden sun burning high above him in noon position. The night time sky was velvety black, scattered with faint white stars, most of which that were obscured by strange clouds of multicoloured light that drifted through space, and occasionally, animal-shaped constellations would reveal themselves as though the stars were being connected with white lines by and invisible hand. There was a sliver of silver moon directly opposite the sun, twinkling mysteriously at him.

As Eggman stared up at the mysterious phenomenon, his mind was seized with the desire to speak the words, _I am the sun and the moon. _Curious to find out why someone as intelligent as he would want to say such a ludicrous thing, Eggman spoke, the words falling strangely upon his tongue.

As the words echoed throughout the ruins of Maginaryworld, a faint rumble sounded from seemingly all around him, and Eggman shrank back; the instincts of one who had endured years of cowardice were hard to leave behind, even if you were all-powerful.

Out of nowhere, a mass of glass shards began to rain down upon him, cutting the top of his bold head as they pelted upon the ground. Eggman squealed and threw his hands above his head, his knees knocking together, trembling as he waited for the shards to cease falling. It didn't take long, and after several pain-free seconds, Eggman lowered his hands, peaking through his navy blue sunglasses down at the ground before him.

Infinitesimal pieces of dull, amber coloured glass lay glistening upon the grass, all jagged, uneven, no two the same. Eggman was both repulsed and intrigued as he stared down at them, wondering how his words could have possibly triggered their arrival, confused at the sense of déjà vu that was sweeping through him.

"Who are you?" asked a soft, lovely voice, one that Eggman linked inexplicably with stardust and sunlight.

Eggman jumped at the sudden interruption, then cleared his throat and declared, "Dr. Robotnik, at your service."

"Hmm," pondered the voice, sounding mildly intrigued. "Well, pick up one of those shards, Robotnik, and you shall be rewarded."

Eggman nodded and leaned down to pick up one of the pieces of glass, while a tiny part of him was screaming at him to run from the shards and not to look back, to leave Maginaryworld and take Sonic and his friends on by himself, but he took that voice the remaining fraction of his cowardice, and more out of recklessness than anything else, he reached down and picked up one of the larger pieces.

To his surprise, it was as hot as though it had been lying in the sun for hours at a time, burning through his glove as though it wasn't even there. Eggman yelped and dropped the piece, and the moment it left his grip, he was plunged into endless blackness. Staggering back, the obese man stood motionless, paralyzed with fear at what he had done, his mind racing through the many painful ways that an invisible enemy could bring death upon him, but before any of those nightmares could come to fruition, and awful, warped and twisted voice that Eggman thought could only belong to some demonic goddess of hell, shattered the silence like the glass that had sat around him.

"SPEED!" shouted the terrible voice, thundering at such a volume that it put an exploding bomb to shame. At the word, the blackness was rent apart by a violent purple light that burned his eyes, and Eggman squinted against the brightness, shielding his eyes with one hand.

"PARADISE!" the second word was uttered in a scream, and it caused the purple light to be replaced by one of oceanic blue.

"NATURE!" The world flashed emerald.

"ADVENTURE!" Blinding emerald was replaced by a flaming orangish-red.

"THE UNKNOWN!" Blackness pressed down upon him like a fog, and Eggman began to tremble from head to foot, for a genius he may have been, but no matter how much power he collected, he knew that he would never be able to face his fear of the unknown.

"ALL COMING TOGETHER TO FORM _MAGINARYWORLD!" _cried the voice, and the blackness, with a noise like a mass of impossible energy being unleashed, compressed into one tiny ball of onyx light, burning in sharp contrast to the whiteness that now surrounded him. There was a beat of impossible silence, and then the ball exploded, tendrils of jagged black shooting across the whiteness. With a warbling shout of terror, Eggman threw himself onto the ground, curling into a ball with his hands on his head, his fear beyond words as chaos raged around him. How long he sat there, Eggman did not know; the only way he knew any time had passed was that, very slowly, the incredible din died down.

At a pace that a snail could have put to shame, Eggman struggled upright, lowering his hands from his head as he tried to get to his feet. When he at last managed to force himself into standing position, the doctor nearly fell back down in amazement.

The world had reformed itself into an ancient, cylindrical stone temple, one that opened up to the heavens at the top. Halfway to the top hovered a large, pristinely white gem that was about as tall as he was wide, rotating slowly, unconcernedly.

_The Precious Stone, _thought the analytical part of Eggman's brain, but he was not listening to it. More surprising than his sudden, inexplicable teleportation was the appearance of the woman that stood before him on a raised stone altar, her head cocked to one side as she surveyed him with intelligent interest. She was by far the most beautiful, yet terrible, being he had ever seen, with her flowing, silvery blond sheet of perfectly straight hair, cascading robes of softest pink and white and pale, slowing skin. The woman seemed to emit a faint, untraceable glow, and yet there was something in her deep, inescapable dark brown, almost black, eyes that unnerved him, a trace of hardness in her smiling mouth that made fear bubble in his stomach.

"Dr. Robotnik," said the woman, and his fear was banished as he heard her lovely voice, the one that had spoken to him in the ruins of Maginaryworld. "You have no idea how happy you have made me."

"You...you're Illumina?" Eggman whispered, his voice cracking with intimidation as he stared, transfixed at the divine being before him. He had never met the goddess before, and yet he was sure that this woman was she.

The woman's eyes flashed at her name, and her smile widened as she spread her arms wide. "Yes," she murmured, slowly descending the ancient stone steps to stand before him. "I am Illumina. Thanks to your immeasurable generosity, you have allowed Maginaryworld to reform, and with it, my subjects, the Maginaires, have returned to life, after millennia of eternal sleep." She inclined her head in a little bow, and as she did so, Eggman could have sworn a shadow passed across her face. But when her head snapped back up, Illumina was all charm.

"I told you you would be rewarded if you picked up one of the shards of the Precious Stone, and so you shall be. Name your desire, and it will come to fruition."

Eggman swallowed, his throat suddenly dry, and things that had nothing to do with his desire to defeat Sonic and his friends raced through his mind as he stared at Illumina. But he quickly mastered this sudden longing, and he cleared his throat, his intimidation quickly being replaced by a feeling of powerful superiority; he had, after all, succeeded in draining Sonic and Amy of their powers, something this goddess had not managed to do.

"My desire," he said, taking care to sound respectful. "Is one that I am certain you share. All I want is to see Sonic the Hedgehog and his friends defeated, so that my path is clear to take over Mobius. Of course," he added, forcing himself to stare Illumina straight in the eye. "I would be more than happy to share the rule of the conquered planet with you, if we should succeed."

Illumina did not move, her eyes hidden in shadows, the lower half of her beautiful face perfectly smooth. For a moment, Eggman wondered if he had said the wrong thing, but his doubts were quickly banished as Illumina raised her head so that she was in the light, her hands coming up and clasping together under her chin, the picture of delight.

"This is wonderful!" Illumina cried, her even white teeth sparkling in the Precious Stone's light. "I intended to destroy those meddlesome fools if I ever managed to regain a body, but I was unsure whether or not I would be able to. But to find out that someone else shares my desire...this is perfect!"

Eggman's face relaxed into a smile, and for a moment, he and Illumina were lost in an amicable silence, both absorbed in their own jubilation, but Eggman quickly came out of his reverie, brought back to reality by something he had not been sure of.

"Our work may already be done, though," he said slowly, a frown creasing his face. "When I left Mobius, two in my employ were about to face off with Sonic and his friends, and I have no way of knowing if they managed to defeat them, so-"

He trailed off as Illumina closed her eyes, raising one hand in front of her face, so that the side of it was brushing her nose. The goddess' face became perfectly smooth, her lips forming words he could not understand, and quickly, her eyes snapped open, boring intently into Eggman's.

"They are alive," she murmured, and anger burned through Eggman at Cream and Cheese's incompetence. "Currently, Sonic the Hedgehog and Amy Rose are with Miles Prower Knuckles the Echidna, and three others I cannot see."

_That'll be Rouge, Cream and Cheese, _Eggman thought bitterly, his hands curling into fists as he realized it was seven against two, albeit immensely powerful two.

"But," Illumina continued, and Eggman's heart lifted at the goddess' addition. "I cannot sense auras of power emanating from Sonic the Hedgehog and Amy Rose. The power is coming from _you, _Dr. Robotnik. How did you manage to steal their powers from them?"

For a fleeting second, Eggman considered lying, but he thought it best to be perfectly open with Illumina. "I constructed a machine," the doctor explained, and Illumina's face was rapt with attention. "That was designed to drain beings of any useful magical ability they might possess. I am pleased to say that it is functioning one hundred percent."

Illumina's breath caught in her throat, and for the most fleeting of seconds, her face was a mask of fear, but the goddess quickly mastered her expression, replacing it with one of polite awe. "Impressive," Illumina murmured, and smugness coursed through Eggman. "I never considered technology," Illumina lapsed into thoughtful silence, then drew a deep breath and said, "I will be more than willing to help you, Dr. Robotnik, but on one condition; when we arrive on Mobius, will you show me the machine you used to drain Sonic and Amy of their powers?"

Eggman, who had been expecting a much less reasonable demand, was more than happy to agree. "Of course," he agreed, sweeping into a low bow. A satisfied smile played upon Illumina's lips, and something slightly more sinister Eggman could not easily identify. Before he could examine it closer, the goddess turned away, her sweeping robes trailing behind her, and she murmured, "It will not do to give Sonic the Hedgehog and Amy Rose a free shot at us," she muttered, pacing back and forth, her hands clasped behind her back as she stormed about in agitation. "I think it would be best if we send several Maginaires to handle them first." Her head snapped towards Eggman with unnerving speed, and she asked, "How many of those animals are there?"

Eggman counted them off briefly in his head, _Sonic, Amy, Tails, Knuckles, Rouge...Cream and Cheese count as one, so... _"Seven," he announced quickly, and Illumina nodded once, before standing perfectly straight, throwing her gaze up to the heavens and screeching, in the horrible, warped voice that had sounded in the blackness, "I HAVE A CHALLENGE, FOR ANY OF YOU WILLING TO COME FORTH AND BRAVE YOUR FEARS. I REQUEST SIX INDIVIDUALS WHO ARE WILLING TO FACE DEATH IN THE NAME OF YOUR GODDESS ILLUMINA, TO DEFEAT THE ONES WHO ARE THE ANSECTORS OF THOSE WHO FORCED MAGINARYWORLD INTO SUBMISSION! WHO IS WILLING TO ANSWER MY CALL?"

"We are," whispered a soft, rasping voice, one that was a thousand times softer than Illumina's, but no less terrible. Both Illumina and Eggman whirled around, the latter gasping in surprise, and he saw that six pairs of slanted, burning red eyes, devoid of white and pupil, staring at him from several feet away.

A single note of satisfied laughter was uttered by Illumina, and, her voice mercifully returned to its usual light, sunny tone, she murmured, "Brave of you, Doom. Are you sure you and your siblings can handle it?"

The burning eyes in the middle narrowed in annoyance at Illumina's snide question. "Of course," scoffed the invisible Maginaire. "We are not all weak, like the traitor Lumina."

Illumina's dark brown eyes flashed with anger at the Maginaire's tone. "Do not speak to me like that!" she screeched in her warped voice, and the pairs of eyes shrank back, widening in fear. Breathing heavily, Illumina forced a smile upon her face, and she turned to Eggman, who was beginning to regret requesting this unstable individual's employ.

"I apologize for my anger," Illumina whispered, her voice light again, and she bowed her head in remorse. "But we are all prone to lapses, aren't we?" Eggman nodded stiffly in agreement, but did not trust himself to speak in case the goddess' anger was turned upon him.

"I hope you'll forgive me," Illumina continued, her dark eyes flickering towards where Doom's still hovered. "But I think it would be best if I gave my instructions to these fools in their native language, so that there is less chance of failure. Isn't that right, fools?" Illumina snapped her voice harsh and twisted once more, and the six eyes flinched.

"Yes, Goddess Illumina," muttered Doom, and Eggman nodded in wordless agreement. Illumina smiled at him, and then turned to face the bobbing pairs of eyes, launching into speech in a rough, guttural language that was too swift and crude for Eggman to have a hope of understanding.

For two minutes, Illumina spoke to Doom and the others without interruption, keeping her arms stiff at her sides in – was he imagining it? – what Eggman thought was an attempt to not give him a clue as to what she was saying. Eventually, Doom's eyes narrowed in satisfaction, and with a blood chilling laugh, he rasped, "It will be done my lady."

The six pairs of eyes proceeded to fade from view, or perhaps they had gone long ago and their images were burned into Eggman's eyes. Illumina watched them until all six bloody red slits had vanished from view, then turned to face Eggman, a look of satisfaction upon her face.

"Who are they?" Eggman asked, his voice slightly hoarse from lack of use. Illumina's eyes flashed at his question, and she answered, sounding disdainful.

"They are Void's Children," she responded, and it was plain from her tone of voice that she thought them inept. "Nowhere near as powerful as their creator, but I can think of no better six than Doom, Fear, Rage, Sorrow, Hate and Misery to defeat Sonic the Hedgehog and Amy Rose."

"Oh," was all Eggman could say, his mind reeling at what Illumina had said; of course, it was obvious now who the six were, for Doom's voice was just as inept as his father's at striking fear in his heart, and now that he thought about it, their names inspired the same emptiness. _Void...Misery...Doom...they're all the same. _But the thought of Void engaging in, well, _that, _six times, was one that was inconceivable to Eggman.

A half-smile played about Illumina's lips, and Eggman was sure she knew what he was thinking. "They were not born of woman, Dr. Robotnik," Illumina said, her smile widening. "Void, as you know, fed on the despair of others. Eventually, however, he became so full of others' despair that it exploded out at him at times, taking on the forms of those who we have just sent to Mobius."

"I see," Eggman said, and he did. Perfectly so.

"And now," Illumina said, her tone suddenly business-like. "I think it's time we departed Maginaryworld for Mobius."

"I agree," Eggman answered, nodding, but unease was still coursing through him, so he asked uncertainly, "Illumina...what exactly did you instruct Doom and the others to do?"

Illumina's dark brown eyes glinted with malicious pleasure as she explained her plan to Eggman. A slow, evil smile spread across Eggman's face as he took in Illumina's words. He did not envy Sonic's position one bit.

It did not occur to him that Illumina had not told him her entire plan.

_There! _Sonic thought, his eyes narrowing in expectation as the end of this seemingly endless underground garage came into view, no more distinct than a bright white light. _Finally!_

He revved the engine of Eggman's motorcycle and sped forwards at top speed, eager to be off of the vehicle. Yes, it was fast, but it had no hope of replacing the thrill of the speed that running induced in him. He tore forwards at an incredibly fast rate, and in what seemed like no time at all, he had reached the mouth of the gap, speeding into bright whiteness.

But the moment the back tire had crossed the line that separated Eggman's garage from the outside world, the motorcycle lurched forwards on its front wheel, pitching Sonic head-first over its handlebars.

"What the-?" Sonic demanded, as he felt his helmet dissolve into nothingness. He curled himself into a ball as he hit the ground, rolling end over end across something that was definitely not the grass Cream had promised. He popped into standing position, his hands curled into a fist, suspecting a mass of robots to converge around him, but to his shock, there was nothing around him, almost literally.

He was standing in somewhere that was definitely not Mobius; the ground was a dull, flat grey plateau that stretched endlessly in every direction, until it met with the smoky white sky that was devoid of clouds, sun, stars and moon. There was no temperature, no breath of wind. It was as if this plateau merely _existed._

Sonic glanced behind him, and saw, not to his surprise, that the entrance to Eggman's garaged had vanished. There was, however, a trail of glistening, oceanic blue sand that led directly to the spot he was standing on. The remains of his motorcycle.

"Dammit," Sonic hissed, turning around, his teeth grinding together. He was alone in somewhere that was most definitely not Mobius, with no way of contacting Tails or the others.

But as if the gods were intent on proving him wrong, Amy came to a sliding halt beside him in sitting position, her legs and arms crossed, eyes closed and looking thoroughly unamused, trailing thick emerald dust.

"Amy!" Sonic exclaimed, relieved. Amy's eyes snapped open, and she turned to look at Sonic, her uptight expression relaxing into one of joyous relief as he helped her to her feet.

"Where are we?" she demanded, fear colouring her voice as she stared intently at him. Sonic opened his mouth to answer her, but a cry of, "Sonic! Amy!" beat him to it.

Both hedgehogs spun around just to see Tails, Cream and Cheese alight on the ground behind them, all looking thoroughly shaken. Cream gave a dry sob and threw herself at Amy, while Cheese croaked, "Chao!" and landed on her shoulder.

"What happened?" Sonic demanded, and Tails shook his head, looking shell-shocked.

"We cleared the exit okay," the fox explained, his voice shaking slightly. "And of course, we realized that this wasn't the forest Cream said it was. We flew up into the sky, we must have been at least twenty thousand feet high, and then our planes...I don't know..."

"Dissolved?" Sonic offered bitterly, and Tails looked up, nodding slowly.

"We're lucky all of us can fly," he muttered in a hollow voice. "We'd be dead meat if we couldn't."

"I'm sorry everyone!" Cream choked out, pulling away from Amy to stare around at the three of them with an agonized expression upon her face. "It was my fault, I t-told you guys where the g-garage was-"

"Don't," Sonic said sternly, and Cream froze, peeking out at him with wide brown eyes. Sonic got down on one knee so that he was level with her, and he grabbed one of her hands in both hers. "It's not your fault, Cream. You had no idea this was going to happen."

Cream gave him a watery smile, and at the same time, Knuckles' voice sounded from behind them.

"Where the hell are we?" the echidna demanded, and everyone turned to see him and Rouge facing them, both looking thoroughly disgruntled.

"Nice to see you too, Knuckles." Amy replied, the faintest trace of laughter lacing her voice as she watched him brushing silver sand from his fur.

Knuckles rolled his eyes at her, while Tails winked and punched Amy appreciatingly on the shoulder.

"Okay," Sonic said, stepping between Amy and Knuckles as the echidna's hands balled into fists, extending one hand to both of them. "We can't afford to fight. Whoever's behind this already has the upper hand, and we're not giving them the benefit of turning us against each other."

Knuckles merely grunted and shrugged, turning away from Sonic and folding his arms across his chest. Sonic lowered his hands as a feeling of unease wept through him. He allowed his hands to drop and held them stiffly at his sides, sure that someone was watching them.

Amy's eyes were fixed upon him, and she opened her mouth, speaking in a low, careful voice. "Remember when we-" she began, but Knuckles spun around, interrupting her.

"Please, Amy, no one wants to hear about your date with Sonic," the echidna smirked, and Amy blushed spectacularly.

"That's not what I was going to say!" she protested angrily, her cheeks blazing red.

"What was it then, darling?" Rouge asked, and her tone was enough to make anyone infuriated. Amy's gaze flickered to Rouge, and she tossed her head angrily, practically spitting fire.

"You wouldn't know Rouge," she declared, her tone dripping with acid. "Because I'm pretty sure you were crying your eyes out over Shadow when it happened!"

Silence was immediate; Rouge froze, her expression suggesting Amy had just slapped her. Knuckles' eyes were huge, flickering between Rouge and Amy, the latter's cheeks still burning at Knuckles' comment, her expression defiant as she glared at the bat. Tails looked as stunned as though he had been whacked over the head with a hammer, and even Cream had stopped sobbing in favour of staring between Rouge and Amy, her brown eyes wide, knowing something bad was about to happen.

Sonic was staring at Amy in incredulity, and he had to admire her nerve for bringing up Shadow, who was a mysterious black and red hedgehog who faintly resembled Sonic. The black hedgehog, or the Ultimate Life form, had been created by Eggman's grandfather, Gerald Robotnik. He had strange powers that none of them could understand, and his loyalties lay with neither Eggman nor their group. He had disappeared from Mobius some three months ago, after one of their more ferocious battles with Eggman that had occurred when he had tried to send Space Colony A.R.K crashing into Mobius, and no one had really mourned the loss, albeit Rouge, whose affections flitted between Knuckles and Shadow.

Rouge seemed to recover from Amy's low blow, and she opened her mouth furiously to retort, but Amy, looking supremely unconcerned, turned away from the bat and, tossing her head, continued to speak to Sonic as though there had been no interruption.

"Illumina was obsessed with our powers, remember?" Amy said, and Sonic nodded wordlessly; it was unlikely he would ever forget the goddess who had tried to kill five of them, and succeeded in only one.

"Well, Eggman stole them, didn't he? And we know that the sun and the moon's power are what Illumina's been after this whole time. Eggman's got both of them, and I'll anything that he went to Maginaryworld to bring her back to life."

Sonic was unable to do anything but stare at Amy, his eyes widening in horror. _She's right, she's gotta be, _he thought, his mind reeling. _But Illumina can't have come back, not when Cosmo destroyed the Precious Stone, Eggman's got no chance of putting it back together..._

But his useless protests died inside his head; the sun and the moon's combined power were more than capable of destroying a planet, and bringing someone back to life was a perfectly plausible reality in comparison.

"Illumina," Knuckles muttered, sounding slightly sick as he shook his head. "God dammit, I thought we'd seen the last of her."

"You haven't, mortal!" came a rasping shout from behind them, and everyone spun around. Amy and Cream gasped, Tails groaned, Knuckles swore violently, and Rouge said, "Now _this _is a party!"

Hovering before them were six Maginaires – what else could they have been? – all of them bearing slanting, haunting red eyes. No two of them were the same, but they cast off a distinct aura of evil maliciousness that could not be ignored. One figure had broken rank and hovered several feet in front of his accomplices, leaving no doubt in Sonic's mind that it was he who had spoken.

This particular Maginaire had ashy grey skin and violent red hair that towered into spikes that were just as tall as he. Clothed in strange, swirling black robes, he reminded Sonic uncomfortably of Void. Nevertheless, he would refuse to show fear, and though his hands were curled into fists, he let out a bark of disdainful laughter and called, "I don't remember asking you to join us."

"You didn't need to," the Maginaire called, its voice like nails down a chalkboard. "Goddess Illumina sent us to defeat the six of you, and we will not fail her!"

"I hate to disappoint you," Knuckles called, a growl building in his throat as he slid into a half crouch. "But you're going to have to tell her you failed from inside a body bag."

The creature's lips curled into a cruel smile, his pupiless eyes glinting maliciously. "That's what you think, isn't it Mobian?"

Sonic knew what was about to happen a second before it did, but he was powerless to stop it; the red-haired Maginaire let out an wordless, enraged shout, and, without warning, a thick, electric blue tentacle burst out of his chest and lashed out towards their group with the speed of a striking snake.

"RUN!" Amy screamed, and the group scattered in every direction, all except Sonic and Cream, the latter rooted to the spot, unaccustomed with attack.

"_NO!" _Sonic roared, launching himself forwards, his arms extended as he tried to push Cream out of harm's way, but for once, he was too slow; the tentacle seized Cream around the waist and yanked the screaming rabbit into the air. The Maginaire who had spoken was laughing maniacally, a sound that was drowned out by Tails, Amy, Knuckles, and Rouge's shouts of denial. The Maginaire's accomplices had risen into a circle around Cream, tentacles emerging from their chests and wrapping themselves around her chest.

Sonic leapt to his feet and shouted, "LET HER GO!"

All six of the creatures laughed, a choir of saws scraping against rocks, but to Sonic's incredulity, Cream, who was struggling against the iron hold of the tentacles, screamed, "Sonic, _run!"_

"Not a chance, Cream!" Sonic shouted back, slipping into a half crouch.

"No!" Cream screamed, tears pouring down her cheeks as she stared down at him. "I've done enough damage, Sonic, and you'll just get hurt trying to save me!" she struggled violently for a moment, then, in a terrified squeak, cried, "I'll get out of this, just _go!"_

Sonic highly doubted that Cream would be able to fight off six Maginaires that had been sent by Illumina to defeat them; he couldn't even believe he was negotiating this. With a grunt of effort, Sonic leapt into the air, streamlining himself as he rocketed towards the rabbit, but as he flew upwards, the six began to spin at a sickeningly fast pace, reducing them to a continuous streak of bloody red and electric blue. Sonic was swatted aside by the streaking Maginaires like a fly hit by a dragon, and he fell back down to earth as if in slow motion, his shout of denial going unheard by everyone but himself. The rest of the world continued to function at a normal pace, and as the Maginaires spun around Cream, the rabbit screamed, a long, drawn-out scream of utmost agony, her brown eyes wide, staring unseeingly up at the sky above her, head thrown back, back arched as far as the tentacles' iron grips would allow.

Sonic hit the ground with awful finality, and at the same time, there was a noise like a laser cannon being fired, and the blue tentacles crackled with onyx black energy that struck Cream with its fatal power. The rabbit's scream cut off suddenly, unnaturally, though it echoed throughout the plateau like the lingering noise of an explosion. The rabbit slumped forwards limply, her head bowed, and with ghostly chuckles, the Maginaires released her, allowing Cream to fall back to earth, as lifeless as a doll.

Sonic could not comprehend why Amy was screaming with rage; all he knew, all that mattered, was that he caught Cream before she hit the ground, and that maybe then everything would be alright-

But when the rabbit hit his arms, he knew it was too late; she was as light as a pillow, and breathing as much as one. Cheese was lying across her chest, his bright green eyes half lidded, unseeing. Shaking violently, Sonic sank to his knees, pressing the side of his head to Cream's chest, hoping vainly to hear a faint heartbeat.

There wasn't one.

Something blackened and flaming fell out of the sky somewhere on his right, but Sonic did not turn around. Tails, Amy, Knuckles and Rouge had converged around them, and Sonic, feeling as though her were a zombie, placed Cream upon the ground in the middle of their circle, backing up and standing between Tails and Amy. The latter gave a choking sob and staggered forwards, falling to her knees at the rabbit's head, pulling Cream into her lap.

"Cream," Amy whispered, her tears wetting the rabbit's blank face, gloved hands shaking as they touched both sides of her face. "Oh, Cream, oh no, please, no, don't be dead!"

Sonic could not look at the rabbit, overwhelmed with guilt; he cast his gaze around at the others, searching desperately for something in their faces that would assure him that he was blameless. Tails' sorrow was beyond tears, his bright blue eyes as huge as plates, reflecting nothing but shock. Knuckles' usual hard face had softened into a mass of sadness, and his dark purple eyes were clenched shut, not quite able to stem the tears that were rolling down his cheeks. Rouge, like himself, seemed unable to look at the rabbit, for she had turned her back on the center of the circle, her arms folded across her chest, but Sonic noticed that her shoulders were shaking with sobs, and the part of her face he could see was tear streaked.

Without warning, the plateau vanished behind a mass of soft white light, and Cream and Cheese were standing before them, both looking ghostly, holograph-like. The rabbit was smiling sadly at him, her bright brown eyes soft, unaccusatory. "It wasn't your fault," Cream assured him, her high, pre-schooler voice ringing with honesty. "You did all you could. Please, for me, make those meanies pay!"

With a tiny wave, Cream faded into non- existence, and then Sonic returned to the plateau, staring down at the place where Cream's and Cheese's bodies had vanished with a hollow sense of unreality, Amy's agonized sobs ringing through the shocked silence.


	18. Hell on Mobius

The world had ended; Cream and Cheese had gone to a place none of them could follow, possibly coming across Cosmo and her mother. So why had time not stopped? The blank plateau they were stranded upon was still there, Amy's sobs still rang through the emptiness, and the feeling of shame that had risen up inside him threatened to overwhelm him, making his head spin.

_Because we've still got a chance, _whispered a voice in his head, a voice that sounded startlingly like Cosmo's strangely accented one. Sonic's eyes snapped open, resolve solidifying in them. Cream's last words to him rang through his mind as clearly as though she were whispering them in his ear.

'_Please, for me, make those meanies pay!'_

_Don't worry, Cream, _Sonic thought grimly. _I won't let ya down._

He looked at Tails, who was still staring at the place where Cream and Cheese had vanished, looking sick to his stomach. "We've got to get out of here," he said aloud, and everyone but Amy turned to look at him, all wearing the same expression of wary shock. Sonic bent down and pulled Amy gently to her feet, not pulling away when she flung her arms around him, sobbing uncontrollably onto his shoulder.

"Those Maginaires aren't going to give up," Sonic told the group at large, watching as Rouge brushed tears from her earthy brown eyes. "And we're not gonna sit around waiting for them to come back."

"I agree," Knuckles growled, his voice slightly rougher than usual for his remorse, but his face had hardened into a burning mass of determination, his deep purple eyes perfectly dry.

Amy gave a final choking, spluttering sob, then pulled away from Sonic, hiccupping slightly as she whispered, "There's only f-five of them l-left now. I...hit one...w-with my ha-hammer."

Everyone looked around to see, to general shock, that there was indeed a Maginaire lying upon the ground, blackened beyond recognition, its form slowly crumbling to ash as it blazed with dying, bright pink flames. Sonic felt a flame of savage pride leap in his chest, but it was quickly smouldered as her thought of what it had cost them to bring about the creature's death, that all the happiness of the moment had been leeched away by the sorrow of Cream's death.

_How many more times will this have to happen until they're all dead? _Asked an unbidden voice in his head, but Sonic quickly pushed the thought away. _None, _he told himself, biting back a snarl. _I won't let anyone else die because of those freaks._

Without a verbal signal, the group trudged past the flaming Maginaire without looking back, each lost in their own remorse, none expressing a desire to look back. Sonic knew that dwelling on Cream's death, on how he could have prevented it, would eventually drive him insane, and so he shifted his thoughts onto the predicament on Illumina's apparent return to life.

He knew that Illumina's subjects were long since dead, and according to the goddess, they were put into that state by the Mobians, who had apparently waged war upon Maginaryworld several millennia ago and forced them into submission, hence its status as a dream world. And the return of Maginaires must mean that Illumina herself had returned to life.

'_The soul of Maginaryworld', _as Void had put it, so long ago. And abruptly, a cord of unease was plucked in his heart, for he realized that Void himself must have also returned to life, along with Lumina. Would they come across them if they managed to survive Doom and his accomplices?

"Stop," Tails called abruptly, his voice slightly hoarse. Everyone froze, no one spoke, all looking intently at Tails, for each recognized that tone of voice. The fox was tapping on his comlink, an expression of intense concentration upon his face, and after several moments of tense silence, he swore violently, snapping his comlink shut.

"Dammit!" he snarled, when his fit of profanity had subsided. "Whatever those freaks have done to Mobius, it's messed with the comlinks. I have no idea where we are!"

"May as well be hell," Rouge muttered, and Knuckles gave a weak laugh. The corners of the bat's mouth twitched, but she continued in a properly subdued voice. "Does it really matter where we go? Those sons of bitches did this to Mobius, they're in control, and they'll know where we are no matter where the hell we go."

Sonic nodded; Rouge's words made sense. In fact, he was surprised at her logic. Usually it was Tails who came up with the smart stuff.

"They'll stay away, if they know what's good for them," Amy snarled savagely, and everyone looked at her, surprised at her viciousness. Amy's eyes were flaming with resolve, glinting with maddened sorrow, her hammer held loosely at her side as she walked into the middle of their circle, glaring defiantly into everyone's eyes in turn, lingering on Sonic's for a moment longer than anyone else's. "They might have taken Cream and Cheese, but dammit, we won't let them take anyone else!"

At her words, a sense of determination so powerful rose up inside of Sonic that he swayed slightly; the fact that Amy was just as determined as he to make the Maginaire's pay acted as a sort of stimulant, as though he had swallowed a bottle of flames to combat the despair that enveloped all who had suffered a death.

But something strange was happening to the ground beneath Amy; the ground beneath her red go-go boots was a dead, burning black, forming a perfect circle around the pink hedgehog, reminding Sonic strangely of a gaping mouth-

"LOOK OUT!" Tails shouted, lunging forwards, an expression of utmost horror upon his face, and Sonic ignored the sense of déjà vu that swept through him, banishing it with a sonic boom as he launched himself forwards with a wordless shout, determined that Amy would not suffer the same fate as Cream had.

In a tenth of a second, he was twenty feet away, Amy pressed safely against his chest. His heart pounded relief through his veins, and he almost laughed as he thought of Tails, who seemed to have forgotten that Sonic would save Amy.

_Oh no, _Sonic thought, and he whipped around, his heart thundering to a stop in his chest. Time seemed to have frozen, and so it was perfectly possible for him to see that Tails was suspended in mid air, an expression of incredulity upon his face, mouth open in an almost comical 'o' of horror as he looked down at the electric blue tentacle that had wrapped itself around his stomach.

Sonic broke the spell of the silence with an enraged bellow of, "NO!" and he hurtled forwards at a speed that would have put light to shame, but the tentacle was faster; with a noise like a whip-crack, it yanked the yelling Tails underground, returning the ground to its previous grey, the fox's yell still echoing throughout the empty plateau.

"NO, NO, _NO!" _roared Sonic, half-blinded by tears as he set Amy on her feet and flung himself onto his knees, directly above the spot where Tails had vanished. He used his impossible, outraged strength as energy to dig into the ground, scooping handfuls of dirt up and flinging them behind him, desperately trying to reach the place where his best friend had gone. Knuckles threw himself onto the ground beside him, aiding him in his quest, while Rouge and Amy exchanged sorrowful looks.

"Sonic," Amy whispered, placing a shaking hand on his shoulder. "You...you won't be able to find him. He...he's gone."

Sonic turned to face her, his eyes agonized. "I've got to try," he whispered, and Amy closed her eyes briefly, her lips trembling as she contemplated the predicament they had landed themselves in.

The world was a senseless, black abyss, seeming to exist purely for the point of torturing Tails, mercilessly ignoring his half-formed pleas, glorying in his tortured screams. Tails threw his head back, trying to express the impossible agony that was ripping itself through his body, but it was impossible; it was being struck by lightning, immersed in acid, the pain of losing Cosmo liquefied and put in the place of his blood.

And then, quite suddenly, the world ended, for the pain came to a halt, and his final scream petered out into a soft gurgle. Tails slumped forwards, his whole body throbbing with agony, weak and shaking, hot bile rising inside his throat. He could not raise his head, could not make sense of why his world had ended.

"Why have we stopped?" demanded a high cold voice, like ice put into verbal form.

"To prolong the pain," answered a rasping voice, one Tails' tortured voice recognized as Doom's.

"Wouldn't it be best to finish him now?" asked a third voice, like two rocks scraping down a cliffside, a voice that was somehow, impossibly, feminine.

Silence fell upon the cavern that they had been plunged in, one that pressed uncomfortably upon his ears. "Why, Misery," came Doom's voice, mocking incredulity, laced with venom. "Is this remorse? Or, perhaps, affection for this weak mortal?"

"Don't joke," scoffed the one called Misery. "I only meant that the sooner we deal with this brat, the sooner we get to finish off the others."

There was a murmur of approval from the assembled Maginaires, and a noise of agreement sounded from behind Tails. "You have a point, Misery," muttered Doom. "Let's take him to the surface, so that his friends can watch as we kill him."

Tails tried to make a noise of protest, but the power of speech had long since deserted him. He felt himself rising upwards, and suddenly, the blackness around him had vanished, replaced by the white light from the surface. He heard, as if from a million miles away, four people yelling abusive insults at their appearance, mingling with terrified shouts for his well-being.

"PUT HIM DOWN, YOU CREEPS!" came Amy's scream, sounding as though she were yelling at them from across a football field.

"COME DOWN HERE AND FIGHT!" demanded Sonic, his voice strangled with rage.

"YOU CAN'T STAY UP THERE FOREVER, YOU CLOWNS!" Rouge shouted, and Tails thought he heard her take off from the ground, a tiny sound in comparison to Doom's roar of, "ENOUGH! LET'S FINISH THIS!"

Tails had known, from the moment the pain had ceased, that his temporary release from agony had been just that; temporary. And now that it had returned, it seemed a thousand times more terrible, gaining strength in its absence. Tails did not have the strength to endure it; he could not even bring himself to scream. No one was meant to endure such agony and live, Cosmo had taught him that.

As his vision faded to black, a single thought spiralled through Tails' emptying mind. _Except for Sonic and Amy. Maybe they'll be strong enough to survive Doom and the others._

"TAAAILS!" Amy screamed, her heart flying into her throat as she watched her friend in agony, his back arched as tendrils of electric black shot up the tentacles that suspended him in mid air. The moment they touched his body, the fox fell limp, his head dropping like a ragdoll's, and with malicious laughs, Doom and his cronies, along with their tentacles, vanished.

As Tails fell, Rouge leapt into the air and swooped forwards to catch him. The fox seemed to have shrunken, as though the life that had departed his body had taken some of him with it.

She, Sonic and Knuckles sprinted forwards, converging around Rouge, who alighted on the ground, her earthy brown eyes wide with incomprehension. Tails bright blue eyes were closed and his yellow-white fur was scorched, shallow cuts criss-crossing his face and arms. "Oh, Tails!" Amy whispered through trembling lips, and she reached out to touch the fox's face with a shaking hand. But when her hand came within one inch of his fur, the world was lost in a flash of brightest white light. Amy knew what was happening, as her mind had been seized with a similar image when Cream and Cheese had died. She opened her teary eyes – how had they closed? – and was unsurprised to see Tails' ghostly form floating before her. He was unscarred, his fur pristine, and he was smiling a sad smile, his pristine blue eyes bright with sorrow.

"I'm with Cosmo now, guys," the mechanic assured her with a roguish wink. "Keep fighting, you'll beat 'em eventually."

Amy opened her mouth to speak, to protest, but Tails faded from view, as did the white light, and Amy found herself standing once more upon the blank grey plateau, her feeling of loss increased by a hundredfold.

_Why? _Amy asked herself, feeling as though a part of her had died as well. _What is the point of this? Why would anyone take Cream and Cheese and Tails?_

"NO!" Amy screamed, throwing her head up to the blank heavens, and with that, she proceeded to sink into tortured sobs, falling to her knees, beating her fists upon the ground before her and stirring up little clouds of grey dust. She could not keep her sorrow at bay, and she sensed Sonic succumb to it too, for he had lost his best friend, and no one, Amy knew, would be able to face that and not cry.

Knuckles and Rouge retained a little more dignity, though Knuckles shed a single, rolling tear for Tails that leaked out beneath closed lids, and Rouge cradled her head in her arms, holding herself as rigid as a board.

It was hopeless; they had lost three of their own and only managed to kill one of their enemies, who were merciless, remorseless cheaters who popped up at the most unexpected times, seeming not to care who they took, as long as it was someone they could kill.

_Never again, _vowed a dull, hollow voice in her head. _They won't take another one of us. I won't let them._

"BRING IT ON!" she screamed, leaping to her feet, producing her hammer from seemingly nowhere. "I'D LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY TO TAKE ANOTHER OF US!"

"With pleasure," responded a disembodied voice, a cool, feline one that somehow, beneath the layers of frightening coolness sounded strangely feminine. Five pairs of bloody red eyes blinked into existence some five feet away, and Amy promptly forgot her sorrow, so enraged was she at the cowards' appearance. She was certain that if she still had the ability to capture the moon's power, she would have long since transformed.

"Fight fair, you bastards!" hissed Rouge, slipping into a half-crouch, her hands curling into fists at her sides. "Let's see if you can beat us when you aren't cowering underneath the ground."

One of the eyes, belonging to the Maginaire who had most recently spoken, narrowed, and with a cat-like snarl, she revealed herself, her neon pink skin and flowing black hair contrasting against the blankness of the plateau. Rouge let out a wordless cry and flung herself forwards, streamlining her body as she flew towards the Maginaire, who did not seem to be expecting such a blatant tactic, and so she did not have time to defend herself when Rouge slammed into her with the force of a bullet, her white gloved hand clenched around the Maginaire's throat as she rose up into the air, kneeing her in the stomach as she ascended.

"MISERY!" came the howls from the other Maginaires, who instantly revealed themselves.

"There ya go!" Knuckles cheered, punching the air as he watched Rouge, and so he did not notice as an electric blue tentacle lashed out towards him-

Amy unleashed an outraged scream, swearing so violently that Sonic jumped in alarm, and with an incredible burst of strength, she flung herself towards the tentacle, her hammer drawn over her shoulder, fury on her face. With a grunt of effort, she swung her hammer forwards just as the tentacle crossed her path. The Maginaire it belonged to shouted out in pain as her weapon came in contact with it, and out of the corner of her eye, Amy saw one of the remaining four spiral backwards. Amy rolled onto her side as she landed on the ground, and then, with a snarl, she jumped to her feet and flung herself at the Maginaire, who seemed to have been expecting it and flung their arms in front of their face in an 'x' position, but her rage allowed her to swing her hammer upwards and hit the Maginaire hard in the stomach, rocketing it into the as though it were as light as a gold ball.

"YEAH, AMY!" Sonic shouted in encouragement.

"RIP HIS HEAD OFF!" roared Knuckles, a bit too enthusiastically. Amy doubted she would go that far, but it did not stop her from leaping after the airborne Maginaire and proceeding to whack it around the head with hammer. The creature roared in pain, blindly clawing at her while she knocked it around.

"Take – _this!" _Amy shouted as they began to fall back to earth, and she flipped upside-down and kicked the Maginaire hard in the stomach. With a roar of pain, the unfortunate creature was blasted backwards, but not before it had grabbed onto her ankle and yanked her through the air after it.

With a scream of bewilderment, Amy was dragged through the air, and eventually landed like a sack of rocks hard on her back, the air rushing from her lungs. Spots of light had erupted before her eyes, which were watering in pain, and Amy was incapable of defending herself as her enemy pounced upon her, relentlessly launching into its own attack, filthy, clawed nails scratching her face as it punched her as hard as she could.

"Get – off...me!" Amy spluttered through her gasps of pain, trying feebly to push the Maginaire off, but it merely laughed, a harsh croak of mirth, and it drew one fist over its shoulder, a fist that was now glowing with indigo flames-

"No!" Sonic shouted, and he hurtled out of nowhere, no more distinct than a streak of blue light as he body slammed the Maginaire off of her, a terrifying look of absolute fury upon his face. With a little gasp, Amy's head fell back against the ground, relief coursing through her as she gasped for breath, knowing she was safe for the moment. She turned her head to the side to look at Sonic, who was reaching forwards to help her up, but her eyes widened in terror as she saw that one of the Maginaires with a shock of neon yellow hair and onyx black skin was sneaking up on him from behind, mossy green teeth bared in a vicious snarl-

"Look out!" Amy cried, exhaustion forgotten, and with incredible speed she leaped to her feet, leapfrogged Sonic and launched herself into the air, squeezing her hammer as tightly as she could and causing bright pink flames to erupt around its head. With a snarl, she brought it over her shoulder and down up the frozen alien's head with such force that it would have broken through a metal wall. The Maginaire, to Amy's horror, did not fall; it merely became rigid as a board, its slanting red eyes widening, until it took up its entire face, spreading down its body like a virus, until it resembled nothing more than a solid red shadow.

"Hate!" shouted three terrible voices, which must have belonged to the remaining Maginaires. Amy did not look at them, for her gaze was fixed up the shadow of the one called Hate. Without warning, the shadow shuddered violently, and then pillars of white light exploded from its chest, each one causing sounds as loud as exploding bombs to rent the air, until its entire body had gone. Amy shielded her face in the crook of her arm as unnatural winds ripped through the clearing, pulling at her hair and dress, and she only removed it when the light had faded from beyond her arm.

She raised her head, staring around in bewilderment, her gaze settling instantly upon their remaining foes, two of whom were restraining a third, the latter with long, oceanic blue hair and charcoal skin, a wild, cat-like fury upon its face as it attempted to lung towards Amy, snarling at her in some rough, grunting language that she could not understand.

Doom, who was attempting to restrain this third being, snarled, "Fear, control yourself! There's nothing we can do for Hate, nothing!" then, he turned to face his partner, growling, "Leave Rage, she is beyond our help." Finally, the leader turned to face Sonic and Amy, who immediately slipped into poses of offense, Sonic sliding himself in front of Amy so that she was hidden from view.

"We will be back, mortals," Doom hissed, his rasping voice colder than the Arctic. "And then none of you will be safe." And with that, the three Maginaires vanished with cracks of white light, leaving no trace behind them.

Amy felt weak, shocked; had they really just managed to kill two of Doom's group, without losing one of their own. As if unsure of reality, Amy reached out to touch Sonic's shoulder, leaning forwards to look past him. Rouge and Knuckles were standing some ten feet away, both looking stunned at what they had accomplished. The four of them exchanged looks of utter shock, and then they shattered the silence with a united shout of, _"Yes!"_

Breaking into a run, Sonic and Amy met Knuckles and Rouge, and they converged into a tight mass of pounding arms, high fives and joyous hugs. Their celebration did not last long, however, for the looming loss of Tails, Cream and Cheese settled in upon them once more, like some sentient fog that refused to be forgotten. They pulled away from each other, smiles fading from their faces as they sank back into depression, their triumph already forgotten.

Sonic, however, in his endless quest for eternal hopefulness, shattered the silence by looking up, a determined grimace forming upon his face. "Dammit, stop that!" he shouted, and Amy, Knuckles and Rouge looked up at him, looking as though he had electrocuted them. Sonic strode away from the group and then spun around to face them, pacing back and forth.

"We can't let those freaks get to us!" he announced, his angry footfalls creating little clouds of grey dust. "There's four of them and four of us, which means there'll be one for each of us to take down. Sitting around here moping isn't going to help anyone! It's not going to help us get to Eggman and Illumina! And it's definitely not-" he swallowed hard as a burning lump rose up in his throat. "- what Tails, Cream and Cheese would have wanted."

"The boy's got sense," said Rouge, her voice lower than usual out of suppressed emotion, and Sonic looked up abruptly to stare at the bat. Her eyes were perfectly dry, and her painted pink lips were curved into a mirthless smile, though a strange sadness played about the shadows of her face, not unlike the one that had been present in Cosmo's.

"To victory!" declared Amy unexpectedly, hiccupping slightly as she extended one hand, mopping her eyes with the back of her other hand. Rouge placed her's on top of Amy's, Knuckles instantly following suit, and Sonic, after the slightest hesitation, smiled hugely, a warm flare of determination rising up inside him as he stared at the hopefulness that had sprung up inside his friends, and he darted forwards, placing his hand on top of Knuckles'. For a moment they stood there, smiling slightly, and then the moment was wrenched violently apart, quite literally.

With a wordless cry of bewilderment, Rouge fell hard on to the ground, her chin slamming painfully upon the merciless grey plateau. Immediately, she was yanked backwards, her clawed fingers digging uselessly into the ground as she was pulled, slowly but surely, by a horrifically familiar neon blue tentacle, which was protruding from a blackened circle of land, much like the one Tails had fallen into before he-

"NO!" bellowed Knuckles, flinging himself forwards and grabbing on to one of Rouge's hands, digging his heels into the ground as he attempted to halt the tentacle's progress, but to no avail; he may have been trying to yank a statue's arm out of position for all the good it did. A wild snarl was wrenched from Sonic's lips, and he threw himself forwards, skidding to a halt on his stomach, grabbing on to Rouge's other hand with both of his arm, his face contorted with furious denial as he and Knuckles tried to deter the tentacle from its path.

"Amy!" Sonic grunted, turning to glare at his friend over his shoulder. "Help us!"

Amy had already dashed past him and Knuckles, a look of utmost fury upon her face as she whipped out her hammer and began to slam it with crushing force upon the tentacle, its head glowing with flames, but she may have been attacking it with a feather for all the good it did; if anything, it yanked Rouge back harder.

"DAMMIT!" Knuckles roared, maddened with disbelief. "I WON'T LET GO! PULL HARDER!"

Amy abandoned her fruitless attack upon the tentacle, opting instead to try to pry it off of Rouge's white boot. Sonic, meanwhile, struggled to his feet , keeping Rouge's hand tightly in his own, and turned and sprinted away from the dark hole, his teeth bared with the effort of running. The bat did not come loose, merely howling in pain as her arm threatened to pop out of her socket.

"Sorry!" Sonic grunted, skidding to a halt. Unfortunately, he chose to do this at the exact moment the tentacle gave an incredible yank on Rouge's ankle, an act that caused him to topple heavily on to the ground.

To his horror, Sonic felt himself sinking into something that felt horribly like nothingness, and as his lower half disappeared completely, Amy gave a scream of horror and seized his arms, pulling him out of the pit with Herculean strength. To both hedgehog's intense surprise, he popped out as easily as if he were a jack in the box. Sonic stumbled slightly, and Amy threw herself at him, her chest heaving with sobs of mingling terror and relief. He patted her gratefully on her shoulder, but Knuckles' shout of agony effectively burst their isolated bubble.

Sonic whirled around, and his heart thundered to a stop. Only Rouge's upper half was visible now, the rest drawn underground by the tentacle. Her fingers were rigid and clawed as she gripped the edge of the hole, and her teeth were bared as strain etched itself in every line of her face while Knuckles knelt before her, shaking with enraged sobs.

"Dammit, you won't take Rouge, you bastards!" the echidna roared, and in a burst of frustration he seized the tips of her wings and yanked hard in attempt to pull her free, but the thief only screamed in pain, causing Knuckles to instantly release her.

"It's...okay, Knucky," Rouge gasped out, her eyes sliding half-closed as she faced off with the painful effort of keeping herself anchored above ground. "Just...let me go."

"NO!" Knuckles shouted, half blinded by tears as he stared in horror at the one he loved. Sonic and Amy were petrified, eyes blank and unmoving as they stared at Rouge, unable to comprehend what was going on.

_It's so cruel, _Sonic thought, his fists clenching in anger. _That they're wrenching them apart._

But he was torn from his brooding by something that sent jagged bolts of shock running through his form; Rouge's lower half had appeared with a faint _pop! _and for a moment, the four of them were frozen with shock, unable to understand what had caused her rematerialization, and then, just as Knuckles helped her to her feet, a grotesque face rose up out of the ground, the face of the Maginaire called Rage, a smile of pure evil upon its electric green face, and Sonic knew what was going to happen before it did, just as two things happened at once.

With a scream of denial, Amy hurled her hammer at the Maginaire's head, the wood blazing with pink flames, and it connected so forcefully with Rage's face that the Maginaire exploded in a burst of white light, while the weapon shattered into a thousand tiny pieces. But for all Amy's effort, Rouge's fate was determined to claim her, and the horrid blue tentacle lashed out from the depths of the hole, seized the stunned bat tightly around the waist and yanked her belowground.

"NO!" Knuckles roared, the picture if defeat, and he sank to his knees, whole form heaving with agonized sobs, beating his fists upon the ground, choking out, "Rouge...no...come back..."

Sonic could not think, let alone move forwards to comfort his friend; Doom and his friends had taken reduced their original number to half its former formidability, and though they had successfully killed half of the Maginaires, he felt no joy in their accomplishment.

Without warning, an ear-splitting roar rent the subdued silence of the clearing, and a pillar of twisting amber flames rocketed out of the hole down which Rouge had disappeared, effectively swallowing Knuckles like a fish down a shark's throat.

"_Knuckles!" _howled Sonic and Amy, neither able to believe what was happening, but their shouts died in their throat as the column of flames vanished, revealing an unharmed Knuckles and, to Sonic's intense shock, Rouge, who, incredibly, still seemed to be conscious. As one, he and Amy sprinted forwards and knelt at the bat's side; she was covered in a mixture of ash, sweat and blood, with scratch marks carved into her face and arms, deep welts in her torso where the tentacle had seized her. Her breathing came in agonized bursts, short and shallow, and she seemed unaware of what was happening when Knuckles pulled her head into his lap, shaking with sorrow.

"No...no..." the echidna whispered, his dark purple eyes clenched shut in a failed attempt to hide his tears. To Sonic's amazement, Rouge's eyes flickered open, and they were clouded with tears of pain.

"Knucky," the bat whispered hoarsely, a faint smile playing about her lips. "It's...okay. Y-you don't need-" she couched violently, and a small fountain of blood escaped her mouth, splattering her face. "-to...cry."

Knuckles only sobbed harder, and out of the corner of his eye, he could see tears running down Amy's face, contorted with sorrow. Rouge laughed weakly, blinking tears from her eyes, turning her head to face the sunless sky, her face fearless. "It's not like...I don't d-deserve...this," she whispered, closing her eyes briefly, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Knuckles choked, his sobs spluttering to a halt at her shocking proclamation, and Sonic muttered weakly, "Rouge...no one deserves this. No one."

The bat laughed again, a bitter sound. She turned her head to face Sonic, earthy brown eyes dancing with malice at what she was about to say. "After a-all I've done?" she asked him, her voice barely audible. "A-all the pain I've c-caused you...all the p-pain I'm about...to cause... this is a...a fitting punishment."

"Don't," Amy croaked, clasping one of Rouge's burned gloves in both her own. "Don't say that, Rouge."

A smile flickered across the bat's face, and then, quite abruptly, something behind her crafty eyes went out, the spark of life, and her hand thudded out of Amy's, her head falling back against the cold ground at the same time. The world filled rapidly with brightest white light, and Sonic found himself facing a dead friend once more. Rouge was perfectly clean, the blood gone from her face, and she smiled slightly at his appearance, displaying glittering white teeth.

"It's okay, kids," she said, her voice strong with certainty, blameless. "You did all you could. Keep an eye out for old Eggy for me, will ya?"

And with a wink, Rouge and the light faded from view, depositing Sonic in upon the grey plateau once more, exactly the same as it had been before, except the bat's body was now gone.

_Three down, three to go, _Sonic thought dully. _At this rate, there'll be none of us left in ten minutes._

At long last, the chaotic purplish blue-white of the vortex surrounding them vanished, and Illumina stepped into a brightly-lit room, illuminated by strips of white light. It looked very technologically advanced, as wide as the Temple of Light was tall, but she was not interested in the size of the room. All she cared about was the gargantuan thing before her, which resembled nothing more than a shiny, metallic bronze ball.

Doing her best to keep her irritation from her voice, Illumina turned to Robotnik, a politely confused smile plastered across her face. "What is that?" she asked, pointing unnecessarily to the ball.

A self-satisfied smile spread across the human's face, his beady black eyes flashing behind his tinted navy blue sunglasses. "That, my dear, is the source of my power. I drained the two hedgehogs of their powers by forcing them inside the glass compartment-" he pointed to a place where a small rectangle of transparent glass was reflecting the artificial lighting. "and all I had to do was sit in my chair and wait. I assure you, the process is quite painful for the victim, though nothing but comfortable for the one who is operating it." The man chuckled evilly, and Illumina forced herself to join in, though her laugh was much more melodious than the human's.

"Ingenious," she lied, and Robotnik was oblivious to her falsehood, his face flushing a bright red, undisguised greed flashing across his face.

Illumina was repulsed by the human and longed to be rid of him, but she knew that she could not afford to slam a lightning bolt through the doctor's head; he had something she wanted, and she would stop at nothing to obtain it.

"I wonder," the goddess asked, her voice silky, laced with seductiveness. "Whether or not we could take a closer look at the machine?"

"Of...of course!" spluttered Robotnik, hoodwinked by her charm. "Let's go!" he began to stride forward, long spaghetti arms swinging at his side. He was unaware that Illumina was not following him, for she was rooted to the spot, buzzing with a sense of evil triumph.

_Fool! _She thought maliciously, a savage smiling curling her lips. _You have been impaled upon your own sword!_

By the time the doctor realized she was not following him, it was too late. "Illumina?" he asked uncertainly, his boots clinking to a stop upon the metal floor as he half-turned to look at her, buzzing with wariness.

Illumina bowed her head, though her eyes were fixed upon the repulsive human. "I regret what must be done, Robotnik," she murmured, and her voice, contrasting with her ominous words, was low, mournful. "But surely, even if you were not a genius, you would have figured that I would not settle to share rule over Mobius?"

"I...you..." spluttered the doctor indignantly, his hands wringing together nervously as he gaped at her like a fish out of water. Illumina raised her head, cocking it to the side and surveying him as though her were an interesting painting.

"Goodbye, Doctor Robotnik," she murmured, and with that, she slashed her hand through the air, sending thick black ropes cackling towards him. The doctor gave a pig-like squeal and tried to throw his hands over his head, but her magic was too quick; with whip-like cracks, the ropes bound themselves around the human, forcing his arms stiffly to the side as they wrapped around him, causing the man to fall to his knees.

"Really!" spluttered the doctor, working hard to keep the fear from his voice, but unfortunately, it came out in a terrified squeak. "I – you....you cannot do this!"

"Oh, can't I?" Illumina laughed, a sinister, tinkling sound, and she strode forwards with incredible grace, seeming to float rather than walk, seizing the rope at Robotnik's neck and dragging him backwards across the black, metal ground.

"Release me!" snarled Robotnik, his voice quaking with fear. "Release me, or I will be forced to unleash the powers of the sun and the moon upon you!"

Illumina did not reply, her evil smile broadening. _Liar, _she thought smugly. _If you had any intention of acting on that threat, you would have already done so. _She turned a deaf ear to the human's pitiful lies, smirking at his attempts to reason with her as she dragged him towards his doom, her dark brown eyes fixed upon the towering machine before him.

It was, in fact, ingenious for a human to have come up with such a simple plan to seize Sonic the Hedgehog and Amy Rose's powers. On reflect, she knew she should have thought of such a thing when they were back in the Temple of Light, draining their powers from them instead of fighting four on one. A low growl escaped her lips as she dragged the man to a halt at the machine's base as she remembered what it had been like to die. It was an agonizing experience, full of flashing light and mortal pain, and even when she had had no body, the pain had raged on, not physical but mental, to know that she had been destroyed at the hands of animals-

_But not this time, _she vowed. _This man is a pathetic mortal, one who has no spine, and was only intelligent enough to devise a scheme that I should have thought to obtain powers to which he has no right._

She was wrenched away from her thoughts by Robotnik's whimper of terror. Her eyes snapped into focus, and she glanced upwards to see that the glass compartment was at least two hundred feet in the air. Doubling her grip on the ropes, Illumina closed her eyes and willed herself upwards, her long blonde hair floating around her face as her feet lifted up off the ground. The doctor was more or less letting out a continuous, annoying whine of panic; perhaps he sensed that there was no way out of this. He was right.

She came to a slow halt after about ten seconds, and slowly, her eyes opened. Sure enough, the glass door was before her, barely coming up to her waist. It would be an uncomfortably tight fit even for an animal, much less an obese human. A savaged smile forced itself upon her lips, and she swung Robotnik forwards like a child flinging a doll from herself. She thrived in the doctor's gasps and shrieks of pain as she punched and kicked him into a contorted ball that was pressed against the glass even as it was closed.

"Farewell, Robotnik!" Illumina cried, waving her hand in farewell towards the doctor. She was sure she could not see her, however, for he had an excellent view of his right leg and left shoulder, and before long she had come to a resounding halt upon the cold metal floor.

Indifferent to Robotnik's shouts and pounding upon the glass, Illumina strode towards the metallic silver chair that was dwarfed by the bronze ball beside it. The goddess surveyed it thoughtfully for a minute, then removed her towering pink hate and strode forwards, seating herself carefully upon it, ready to leap out of it at a moment's notice, in case Robotnik had booby trapped it somehow. But her fears came and went as no metal clasps seized her wrists and ankles, and she shivered slightly as what felt like a cold metal bowl settled upon her blonde head.

For a moment, there was nothing, ringing, absolute silence pressing in upon her ears, and then, a low, metallic rumble sounded from somewhere beside her, possibly from the vast tube that ran from the floor to the side of the ball.

Impatience was just flickering upon her face when a noise like a laser beam being fired rent the air, and a feeling of absolute power swept through Illumina like an electric current, causing her form to shake slightly. She was oblivious to the doctor's thrashes and screams, a smile spreading across her face as what felt like the power of the sun in liquefied form swept through her, an act that sent a tingling sensation running from her fingertips to her chest. Energy took the place of her blood as it swept through her body, and she felt as though she could have jumped to touch one of the strips of light that hung above her, or sprinted the length of the room in under a second. Suddenly, defeating Sonic the Hedgehog seemed like not only a possible task, it was positively easy-

As abruptly as the pleasure had come, it ended, and annoyance flickered across her face; why had the machine stopped? But the answer presented itself almost immediately, and the goddess' annoyance was quickly dispelled. Like a bullet from a gun, Illumina leaped upright, her chest heaving with excited breaths, and she cast her gaze upwards, her sharp eyes instantly focusing upon the glass door, which had slowly lowered itself like a slide to allow the limp, red-blazered form of Robotnik to slide across it.

Her dark brown eyes followed his progress like an eagle stalking its prey. The immensely fat human tumbled end over end, limbs flailing out behind him, and he struck the ground with such force that the floor shook slightly. He did not, as she expected, crack and splatter like the egg he so resembled, but remained limp upon the ground, a pool of blood quickly seeping out from his form. Illumina hitched up her skirts and ran swiftly to the man's side, eager to see if he was dead.

As she looked into the human's face, she knew instantly he had not survived; it was blank and staring, his glasses shattered and askew, revealing wide, shocked orbs that had once been eyes. His mouth was open as if in surprise, trickles of blood snaking out from the corner of his mouth. His arms were bent at unnatural angles that even broken bones would have trouble reaching, and his chest was perfectly still.

Not a trickle of sadness coursed through her; instead, joyous triumph welled up inside of Illumina, threatening to overcome her. The human was dead, the sun and the moon's power in her hands at last. The goddess raised her hands slowly in front of her face, willing them to display the power she had acquired, the power she was entitled to. Golden flames erupted at her fingertips, molten sparks trailing from her hands, which curled into fists, a slow smile spreading across her face.

"At last!" she cried, throwing her head up high, gazing jubilantly up at the concealed heavens. "They will be ants beneath my feet!"

"My lady?" came a low, rough rasp of a voice from behind her, and Illumina immediately whirled around, closing her fists upon the flames that had sprung up around her hands. For one bewildered second, she could have sworn she saw the ghost of Cosmo the Seedrian staring mournfully at her, but with a blink she was gone, replaced by the flickering, holographic form of Doom, looking subdued.

Illumina bit back a snarl; seeing Doom looking subdued could only mean one thing. "You have failed me, haven't you?" she demanded, her voice ringing with anger, echoing off the walls of the vast room. Doom shook his head meticulously in response, blood red eyes widening with panic.

"Not yet, my lady, not yet!" he cried in response, a painful sound in his rough voice. "We have reduced their number to half its original one."

"Really?" Illumina asked, feigning interest, forcing her face into a mask of rapt attention. "And how many of _your _number have they wiped out, Doom? Which of your siblings remain?"

Doom's eyes widened even further at her words, panicked at her knowledge. "Th-three are left," the Maginaire stuttered, and Illumina's eyes narrowed angrily. "Fear, Hate and myself."

"Who of their group is left?" Illumina spat viciously, and Doom flinched at the venom in her voice.

"I don't know their names," the eldest of Void's children gasped out apologetically. "But...there's a red one, I don't know what type of animal he is, and two hedgehogs, a pink one, a girl, I think, and-"

"A blue one," Illumina finished her servant's sentence in a murmur, her eyes narrowing. She lapsed into thoughtful silence, grudgingly admiring the three Mobians' ability to survive for as long as they had, but before long she snapped back into the present, forcing the fear from her voice as she snarled, "Very well, Doom, you have not failed me entirely. Destroy the red one, I have no need for him. Once he is gone, bring the others to me."

"B-but my lady," protested Doom weakly. "Wouldn't it b-be better for us to take care o-of all three o-of them?"

"No, Doom," snapped Illumina, her voice dangerously gentle. "I have long since learned that I cannot trust delicate work to fools such as you. Now go!"

The Maginaire did so grudgingly, looking as though he longed to retort, and his ghostly form faded from view quickly, eager to escape the goddess' anger. Illumina sighed, turning her back on the place the Maginaire had disappeared from, a vicious smile playing about her lips as her eyes settled upon a gap in the wall across the room.

_I wonder, _she thought idly, striding towards the gap. _Just how foolish those little hedgehogs are._


	19. An Ultimatum

Amy could not believe it.

The speed with which her friends had been struck down alarmed her, shook her more violently than the most terrific earthquake. Her knees threatened to give way, she felt sick to her stomach, and her mind was a whirling, chaotic mass, the same thoughts ringing through her mind over and over again.

_First Cream and Cheese, then Tails and now Rouge, _she thought, swaying on the spot. _How can we hope to go on?_

She stared at the spot where Rouge's body had vanished through dead, hollow eyes, remorse filling her up and draining out of her in the form of silent tears, and then the process would repeat, an endless, pain-stricken cycle...

"Knuckles," Sonic's low voice sounded from what seemed like a very far way away, anchoring her into the present. "Knuckles, man, you gotta get up."

The echidna merely moaned and sobbed harder – albeit completely silently – whispering, "Rouge, oh, _Rouge, _why...why?"

Amy's deadened eyes suddenly burned with life, as the fraction of her brain that was not catatonic recognized something in Sonic's words. _We're not done yet, _she realized, a spark of hope igniting inside her heart. _We're gonna make those bastards pay, and then we will grieve._

Sonic, as if sensing her emergence from shock, cast her a pleading look, and with a nod, Amy knelt at Knuckles' side, silently apologizing for the grievance she was about to cause him as she said gently, "Crying isn't gonna bring Rouge back, Knuckles. The only thing we can do for her is make sure she didn't die in vain."

Knuckles gave a small choke of horror at her words, but he nevertheless stifled his sobs, blinking his eyes dry as he forced himself upright. "You're right," he said finally, his voice only betraying faintest hint of sorrow. "Those freaks are gonna pay for what they've done."

"My thoughts exactly," Sonic grinned, the faintest amount of mirth playing about the corners of his lips as he punched Knuckles bracingly on the shoulder. But his expression quickly changed to one of pained remembrance as he turned to Amy, his eyes sad.

"You're hammer-," he began, stretching a hand out towards her, looking unsure as to what he was intending to do, but Amy shook her head, a smile forming upon her face as she stepped back from Sonic.

"It's okay," she told him, unable to keep the excitement from her voice as she prepared to execute something no one else alive had ever seen. "Watch this."

She closed her eyes, clasping her hands together just underneath her chin, whispering, "I need a hammer."

Her hammers were not, nor had they ever been, indestructible, and so she was blessed with the ability to, amongst other things, summon extra hammers from hammerspace. Even as she stood, an unnatural wind picked up, blowing her hair around her face, and she felt the ground beneath her feet growing hot.

_Please, _she thought, squeezing her clasped hands harder. _I need a hammer. I need a hammer._

Over and over again, she chanted the same words, and with each one the wind grew more violent. After less than a minute, her feet actually left the ground, and as she rose slowly up into the air, she cracked her eyes open, and saw to her amusement that Sonic and Knuckles were staring up at her, looks of incredulity upon their faces. A smile flickered across her face, and as she came to a halt, Amy unclasped her hands and held them in front of her at waist level, as if she were holding an invisible platter of food. A dark pink light ripped its way into existence above her hands, stretching and widening as it took the shaped of a hammer constructed solely of light.

But instead of lowering into her outstretched hands, the light rose upwards, twisting slowly so that the hammer's unformed head was in position to strike her own. Amy blinked in bewilderment, frozen with shock, and though some small part of her realized what was happening, she could not force herself to move out of the path of her weapon.

"_No!" _ roared Sonic, his voice deafening from the extremity of his denial, and he jumped into the air with a sonic boom, grabbing her around the waist and crushing her securely against his chest while simultaneously flipping upside down. With a grunt of effort, he kicked the hammer with both of his feet, mustering enough force to down an elephant, and to Amy's intense shock, she heard the inanimate object shout with pain.

As they plummeted back towards the ground head-first, she saw Doom being blasted through mid-air, the light from her hammer clawing at him like a liquid as he emerged from it, while the weapon itself solidified and dropped after them. Sonic flipped upright just as they landed on the ground, and he immediately released her, slipping into a half-crouch, turning slowly on the spot as he snarled furiously, searching for Doom's remaining accomplices. As if in a trance, Amy caught her hammer by the handle, slipping into an offensive pose beside Sonic, while Knuckles ran over to join them. They pressed their backs together, glaring about in search of their enemies, but the Maginaires were nowhere to be found.

Amy glanced at Sonic, who shrugged, his teeth still bared in a snarl. _Where the hell - ? _she thought, but she was cut off in mid-ponder as a deafening explosion of supernova proportions occurred above them. All three of them took sharp breaths as their heads snapped upwards, searching for the cause of the din, but there wasn't one; there were no plumes of flame billowing outwards, no bomb shards pelting towards them. The sky was just as blank and white as before, something that frightened Amy just as thoroughly as it confused her.

She looked back down, and a gasp of surprise was wrenched from her lips; the ground, so recently a flat and empty grey, was now littered with potholes, each five meters wide and impossibly deep, spaced no more than two feet apart. The only hole-free space was the ground they were standing upon, but even as they stood, Amy could feel it starting to collapse beneath their combined weight.

A savage growl escaped Sonic's lips from beside her, a sound that was mirrored by Knuckles. Her own lips curled into a savage snarl as she got Doom's message; _Split up or die._

"Crafty freaks," Knuckles hissed, glancing back at her and Sonic. "What shoulder we do?"

Sonic's shoulders stiffened, and Amy looked back at him to see that his eyes were narrowed to slits, darting about the hole-strewn plain, searching for an escape. "We're gonna have to move," he relented finally, turning to face Amy and Knuckles, a trace of defeat in his voice. "But we're all heading in the same direction, because splitting up is as good as suicide."

Both Amy and Knuckles nodded, and a mock smile played about Amy's lips, a mixture of frustration and sadness upon her face. "Gentlemen, it's been a pleasure," she said, clasping hands with first Knuckles, then Sonic. But she only got as far as that, for with a rumbling roar, the ground beneath them gave way, causing all three of them to shout in surprise and jump away from each other. Amy landed on one foot, her hands frozen above her head as if in submission, and she wobbled precariously for a moment before gaining her balance. Very cautiously, she lowered her other foot, and turned her head to see Sonic on her right, standing stock still, his eyes moving around so fast they appeared blurred. Several holes away was Knuckles, his feet shoulder width apart, biceps flexed menacingly.

"Keep your hammer ready," Sonic called, nodding towards her. "Be on guard at all times. I won't let them take any more of us."

Amy nodded, her stomach twisting into a knot of fear, and she set out at a pace a snail could have outstripped, placing one foot in front of the other, imagining she was walking a tight rope. She beat the head of her hammer into the palm of her left hand anxiously – it was a comfort thing. Before long, her feet were moving automatically, while her eyes roved about the barren plain, searching for a flash of colour, an electric blue tentacle lashing out towards her, reading to slam her hammer head upon the first person to poke their head up out of the ground.

"It's quiet," she hissed, turning her eyes upon Sonic, who nodded in agreement.

"At the risk of sounding clichéd, too quiet," he responded, and as if to prove that something was wrong, Doom, Fear and Hate rose up out the holes in front of the three of them, each of their hands clenched, halos of purple fire glowing around their fists, the same malicious snarls upon their faces.

There was no room in Amy's heart for fear; with a savage cry, she jumped across the space between her and Fear, swinging her hammer hard over her shoulder, her eyes fixed upon the Maginaire's head, but she only cackled and danced out of harm's way, before rocketing through the air towards her, drawing back one of her fists, concentration etched upon her face. Instinctively, Amy ducked low, some analytical part of her brain realizing that the holes around them had vanished. As Fear soared over her, Amy twisted into a backwards somersault, her feet connecting with the Maginaire's stomach, causing her to howl in pain and sprawl face-first upon the ground. Amy whirled around, squeezing her hammer's handle, causing bright pink flames to erupt around its head, and with a shriek she slammed it down upon the monster, who, displaying impossible speed, reached up and caught the weapon's head when it was an inch from her face. Both of them froze, each incredulous at the Maginaire's narrow escape from death, and Fear recovered first, shoving the hammer from her head and flipping upright, her foot catching her sharply under the chin. Amy involuntarily bit her tongue, tasting blood, and pain coursed through her. But she knew that compared to the agony she would feel if she did not retaliate, the hurt was minimal, and she forced herself to ignore it, attempting to elbow Fear in the stomach, but her foe caught the blow in the palm of her hand, forcing Amy backwards with unnerving strength. She staggered backwards, and the Maginaire laughed openly, a harsh, strangely cat-like sound.

"Pathetic," she whispered, blood red eyes flashing disdainfully. "I don't know why Illumina's bothering to have you killed."

"You will," Amy panted, and she slammed her hammer upon the ground, just hard enough to propel herself over Fear's head. The Maginaire laughed harder, thinking she had missed, but in her disdain she forgot to turn around, which the hedgehog had been counting on. She spun around and leaped onto Fear's shoulders in sitting position, and with a tremendous effort she heaved herself backwards, propelling a bewildered Fear backwards like a rocket from its launcher. Amy dropped her hammer and forced her hands above her head, completing her back flip, and as she straightened upright, she turned just in time to see the Maginaire punch her straight in the face.

With a gasp of shock and pain, Amy spun through mid air and landed hard on the ground, coughing blood. But despite the pain, a plan had formed in her mind, and she forced herself to continue coughing weakly, her form shuddering to disguise her right hands movements towards her comlink. Fear's shadow appeared over her form, and Amy could see that it was shaking with triumphant laughter.

"Get up, Mobian," she jeered, her horrible voice ringing with glee, oblivious to Amy's plan. Very carefully, she flipped open her comlink, and jabbed the button that would render her invisible. She knew it had worked when her arm vanished from beneath her, and she bit back a growl of satisfaction as her enemy screamed in bewilderment.

Amy rolled away from the place she had vanished, in case Fear decided to attack the spot. Popping lightly to her feet, she spotted her discarded Piko Piko hammer lying feet from her, and she hastily scooped it up, while the Maginaire, oblivious to the object's disappearance, continued to rage and storm.

But to Amy's horror, she saw that Sonic and Knuckles, who were both battling their hardest against Doom and Hate respectively, had interpreted her disappearance, and Fear's shouts, as her death.

"No!" Sonic roared, and she was shocked to see that tears were pouring down the hedgehog's face, blinding him slightly. "AMY!" With a wordless bellow, he punched Doom in the face so viciously that the Maginaire was blasted back fifteen feet, and he turned and launched himself at Fear, curled into a tight ball of utmost rage-

But Fear, it seemed, had been expecting such a reaction; with a malicious shriek, she caused an electric blue tentacle to rip its way out of her chest, and it wrapped itself around Sonic when he was feet from her, yanking him out of his tight coil, an expression of horror upon his face.

"_NO!" _screamed Amy and Knuckles, and they both launched themselves towards Sonic's bound form. Amy, who was closer, got there first, and she slammed her invisible hammer into Fear's face as hard as she could. Time seemed to pass in slow motion, and bright pink flames ran down the Maginaire's form in the form of a current, the places it passed over transforming her into a solid red shadow that infected the tentacle that bound Sonic, who seemed to be barely conscious as he fell out of its grip as it transformed into light-

With a deafening burst of sound, Fear's silhouette exploded, the force of it rippling Amy's cheeks, but she was beyond noticing such mundane things; from behind her, Hate roared, "LASER BEAM!" and the sound of a cannon being fired ripped its way into existence from behind her, extended because of the fact that time seemed to have stretched into an eternal moment of horror. Amy turned as if in slow motion, and saw that a beam of concentrated lavender energy was rocketing towards Knuckles in slow motion, the echidna suspended in mid air, arms extended, his mouth frozen in an 'o' of warning-

Her scream was lost from the resulting explosion of the beam connecting with Knuckles' form, and the guardian of the Master Emerald was blasted bodily through the air as time returned, his arms and legs stretched to breaking point as he sped out of sight.

Amy turned and sprinted after him, unconsciously pressing the button that would return her to invisibility. She heard Doom shout, "No, Hate, leave them!", heard two loud _cracks! _ rent the air to signify the Maginaire's disappearance, but her brain did not register their meanings, so absorbed was she in the horror of what had happened, reeling with the knowledge that it was she who had caused Knuckles' injury – she refused to think the word _death _– because if she had not turned invisible, she would not have triggered Sonic's violent retaliation...

Knuckles' limp form thudded to a resounding halt upon the ground some thirty yards away from her, and, and it may as well have been a mile of broken glass, because Amy knew she would not be able to reach him before the white light claimed her consciousness once more. Even from this distance, she could see that Knuckles' deep purple eyes were blank and half-lidded, his form blackened and splayed like a discarded doll, no sign of life present.

Though she had been expecting it, it came as no less of a terrible throb of sorrow when the world around her was obscured by a painfully bright whiteness, Knuckles' ghostly form hovering before her. He looked utterly relaxed, looking oddly impressive against the whiteness, his translucent form glowing a mysterious green around the edges. His face was at ease, blameless, and a small smile played about his lips as he stared at her.

"See ya around, Amy," he said with a wink, and then he was gone to a place she could not follow him, abandoning her upon a cold plain that was controlled by Maginaires who would stop at nothing to kill her...

"No, no, _no!" _Amy screamed, falling to her knees, sobbing unrestrainedly, pounding her fists upon the ground. Her world was utterly gone, taken from her by Illumina's servants, it was her fault that Knuckles was dead, her fault that she could not save Rouge, her fault that she had allowed Tails to take the fall for her, her fault for not suggesting that Cream and Cheese stay in the safety of Eggman's base while they faced off with the Maginaires-

"Amy?" Sonic's voice punctured her isolated bubble, and as Amy choked on her final sob, turning her head to look at the place where her friend's voice had sounded from, she realized that she was not, in fact, all alone.

"S-Sonic!" she spluttered, too weak to stand, making no effort to stem the flow of her tears. "A-are you -"

"Where's Knuckles?" Sonic demanded, his voice fearful, unwilling to accept the truth that his eyes betrayed he already knew. Amy gave a strange splutter that may have been an attempt at a whimper, and she whispered, "D-dead. It w-was my f-fault, I sh-shouldn't have turned in-invisible, and now...n-now...it's j-just you and m-me!" she sobbed, flinging her arms around her knees as she rocked back and forth on her hindquarters, hugging her knees to her chest.

For a moment, Sonic was silent, undoubtedly thinking of hurtful insults to hurl at her, but to Amy's indescribable shock, he got down on his knees beside her, tilting her chin upwards, forcing her to meet his eyes.

"It wasn't your fault," he murmured, his voice low, honest and sincere. "And I'm not just saying that to make you feel better. If Illumina wants to kill you, she's going to get it done."

"W-what are you t-talking about?" Amy spluttered, unlocking her limbs, brushing tears from her eyes so that she could stare confusedly at Sonic. Her friend closed his eyes briefly, letting his hand drop from her chin as he pulled her to her feet.

"Illumina's behind this, we already know that," he stated, his voice growing ever-quieter. "But you've got to realize that we're the ones who contributed mostly to her defeat back in Maginaryworld. Don't you think she'd want to finish the two of us off personally?"

Amy felt as though she had been plunged into a bucket of icy water; what Sonic had suggested had not occurred to her, and yet she was certain that he was absolutely right; Illumina would want them two to die just as she had, alone and powerless.

Unbidden, Sonic was continuing, his voice almost musing. "She wouldn't want for us to have any chance of surviving, so I bet she told Doom and his pals to finish off Tails and Knuckles and the rest of them so that we wouldn't have a chance of defeating her. I gotta admit," he looked up at her, his light green eyes staring into Amy's darker ones, laced with sadness. "She's playing one helluva crafty game right now."

"Then we're just going to have to beat her!" Amy exploded to her feet, grabbing onto Sonic's wrists, her face inches from his own, eyes wide and pleading, sparkling with tears. "She's not going to win! We can't let her, Sonic!"

Sonic leaned back, a slight smile upon his face as he stared at her. "Now you're talking!" he exclaimed, punching her lightly on the shoulder. "There's no way that puffed up princess is getting away with this!"

And it was at that precise moment that a pillar of raging orange flames rocketed up out of the ground feet from where they were standing, sounding for all the world like a bomb had just exploded. Amy's scream of bewilderment was lost as she and Sonic were blasted off their feet from the force of the explosion, coming to hard, skidding halts some twenty feet away.

"Get up, get up!" Sonic was shouting, his voice sounding weak and tinny against the roaring as more columns of flame erupted out of the ground, so that the plateau was suddenly ablaze with heat, smoke and light. Her eyes stinging, Amy allowed Sonic to pull her upright, and she only had a second to marvel at the fact that he swung her onto his back so that she was clutching at him piggy back-style before he took off with a sonic boom, a pillar of flame roaring into existence directly under the spot they had just vacated.

Amy clung on for dear life, her eyes narrowed to slits against the burning heat and choking flurries of ash that were spiralling all around them. She screamed as Sonic wove in and out of columns of fire, doing everything from flinging himself through the air to stopping in mid step and changing direction to avoid a slow and painful death.

_What the hell are we supposed to do? _Amy wondered, hopelessness infecting her like a fast-acting poison, her form bumping up and down as Sonic pelted across the fiery plateau. _How are we supposed to get out of this alive?_

A deafening roar sounded from just in front of them, and suddenly, Amy's vision was obscured with crackling reddish orange light. Sonic's shout of surprise, her scream of terror, were drowned out as they were blasted backwards through the air once more, only this time, they weren't as lucky as they had been before.

Amy felt herself coming away from Sonic, and at the same time, she rocketed backwards through a mass of sound, heat and agony, her vision nothing but smoke and light. As she sped out of what she could only imagine to be a pillar of fire, Amy felt flames clawing at her back, trying to burn her flesh away from her body. She was reduced to screaming in terror as she landed hard on the ground, only able to hold on to one thought as she burned alive.

_Stop, drop and roll._ And that was what she did, acting upon the words she had been taught in kindergarten. Her screams were stifled by the grey dirt of the ground, and she folded her arms across her chest, rolling end over end, praying that she would not accidentally end up going straight through another concentrated mass of flame-

Sonic was swearing, but she could not directly make out what he was saying. She forced herself to stop making noise, relaxing very slightly when she felt the flames dying, felt the burning agony leaving her body.

"Holy shit," Sonic whispered, kneeling over her when she finally came to a halt, gasping for breath, pained tears streaming from her eyes , smoke trailing from her form. "Are you alright?"

"As alright as anyone can be after being set on fire," Amy replied shakily, allowing him to help her to her feet. She took in his uncharred form, his burnless body, and immediately deduced that he had avoided plunging through flames. She caught him wince as his eyes passed over her body, and she shivered self-consciously, drawing her arms over her chest, a jolt of surprise tearing through her as she saw her blackened fur.

"Pretty bad, eh?" she joked, attempting to sound cheerful, and Sonic rolled his eyes, though a reluctant grin spread across his face.

"You're the only person I know who'd make jokes about burning alive," he muttered, and Amy laughed in spite of herself, laughter that was instantly cut off when she saw that the columns of flame had vanished, leaving nothing in their wake, plunging them once more into frightening emptiness. Sonic caught sight of her confused expression and tore his eyes away from her, instantly slipping into a half-crouch.

"What the hell?" he growled, as he and Amy pressed their back together, eyes scanning the barren plateau. Amy was distracted from the pain that was throbbing angrily across her back, the place where the flames had been most heavily concentrated, and for the moment, even thoughts of Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Cream and Cheese driven temporarily from her mind as she faced down the looming threat of death.

And though they had been expecting it, it did not stop Sonic or Amy from gasping in surprise as the final Maginaires, Doom and Hate, materialized with in flashed of violet light. Both of their faces were identical masks of utmost rage, fists glowing with onyx energy, blood red eyes narrowed in impossible hatred.

"Welcome back," Sonic greeted them sarcastically, and Doom snarled, a wild, out of control sound.

"Shut your mouth," he hissed, his rough voice shaking with anger. "Do you think that you can just -"

He cut himself off with a shout of pain as Sonic curled himself into a tight blue ball and launched himself at him, crossing the distance between them in less than a second. Even as Doom was blasted backwards, Sonic held on to the Maginaire's falling form, punching and kicking every inch of him he could reach-

Amy was distracted from Sonic's face by Hate's scream of fury, and out of the corner of her eye, saw a concentrated jet of crackling black energy explode out of her outstretched hand, speeding towards her frozen form at a speed that put sound to shame-

But Amy had not survived this long to be defeated by some weak minion of Illumina; with a shriek, she flung herself onto the ground, feeling her hair flying backwards, intense heat speeding over her back as Hate's attack rocketed harmlessly over her head. As soon as she was sure that it had passed, she popped to her feet, pulling out her hammer as she ran to meet the Maginaire, their faces identical etchings of concentration-

With a wordless cry, Amy swung her hammer forwards, aiming for Hate's head, but the Maginaire skipped lightly out of harm's way, her face contorted with anger, sparks spitting from her cruel mouth as she lunged forwards, clawed hands outstretched and glowing with power, murder on her face. Though this was unexpected, Amy recovered well, forcing her hammer above her head in a horizontal parry. Shrieking with alarming likeliness to a cat, Hate caught her hammer's handle, clawing desperately at the little amount of space between them, trying to slash her torso.

"I don't think so!" Amy snarled, and she kicked her opponent hard in the chest, sending her yowling backwards. Amy lowered her hammer just in time to see a whip-like lasso flying towards her, writhing like a headless snake, and it wrapped around her stomach with crushing force, knocking the air from her lungs. As Hate landed heavily on the ground, a malicious smile upon her face, she yanked the black lasso hard, causing Amy to fall onto the ground, the air knocked from her lungs, involuntarily biting her tongue. She tasted blood.

Hate let out a cackle of insane laughter as she reeled Amy in like a fish, her blood red eyes glinting maliciously, mossy teeth gnashing together with expectancy. Gasping for breath, Amy writhed and twisted, gasping for breath, but it was no use; the Maginaire was too strong, the rope too tight-

And then, quite abruptly, she remembered something, a weapon she had been carrying all along, a weapon she could have used to cut Rouge free. Worming one arm out of the lasso's grip, she plucked her headband out of her hair and flicked her wrist sharply, causing a silver blade to swish out of its side. Hate's laughter cut off abruptly, eyes widening in panic as she spotted the blade, and with a savage snarl, Amy slashed through the lasso, which fell away from her stomach pathetically. Popping lightly to her feet, Amy pulled out her hammer, jumping high into the air, pulling her weapon over her head, dark green eyes fixed upon Hate's splayed form. But the Maginaire was not about to take the blow lying down; she too jumped to her feet and willed herself upwards, rocketing up to meet her like some oversized, demonic bird. For a split second, time seemed to freeze, during which Amy and Hate glared at each other, seething with rage, and then Amy broke the spell with a shriek of, "Take this!" slamming her hammer hard into the Maginaire's stomach. The air rushed from the monster's lungs as she doubled over in pain, but somehow, incredibly, she held on, catching the hammer's oversized head with her hands as Amy followed through from her swing. The hedgehog was momentarily stunned, and as she plummeted back down to earth, she saw fly out from behind her, shrieking with untamed rage, and her cold, clammy hands wrapped around Amy's throat, crushing the life from her.

Spluttering in bewilderment, Amy clawed desperately at Hate's fingers, trying to hold on to the last of her breath. The Maginaire let out a vehement hiss, her cold fingers tightening around her throat. Amy gasped and choked, trying to knee her captor in the chest, but her movements were weak and slurred, her vision spiralling and running together in a mass of streaking white and grey, disappearing altogether around the edges.

"Yes," crowed Hate, her voice incredibly far away but ringing with triumph. "Do you see how foolish it was for you to try to defy me? You're going to die here, just like all your pathetic little friends!"

"N-no!" spluttered Amy, losing the feeling in her arms, her heart hammering against her chest, lungs screaming for air. "I...w-won't..."

But her half-formed retort died in her throat, as did her resolve to live. Her hands fell limply away from the Maginaire's, limply coming to her sides, and she felt, in a disembodied sort of way, her captor lifting her up off the ground by the throat, fingers growing ever-tighter.

_What's the point? _Whispered a voice in her head, one that was weak and spineless, one that was pessimistic and often spoke to her in times of indecision. _You won't be able to throw her off, and even if you could, what's stopping her from unleashing one of those tentacles on you, like what happened to Tails and the others? Face it, you're about to die..._

_NO! _Shouted another voice, one of furious denial, a Herculean-strengthened part of her conscious that was the reason she was still alive. _You can't give in! Sonic needs you, Amy! He can't hope to beat two of these freaks by himself!_

"S..S...So – nic...." Amy whispered, her voice choked, trailing off with a gurgle. Her vision was completely black now, and the only real thing in the world was Hate's iron grip upon her throat, crushing the life out of her as easily as one might crush a leaf. To her horror, she realized that not even thoughts of Sonic could reignite her desire to live, and she felt her eyes close, spiralling into a crushing blackness that had no escape-

"_NO!"_

The roar sounded from nowhere, shattering the relative silence of her death; as if from across the universe, Amy heard Hate shriek in outrage, felt the Maginaire's grip loosen and disappear from her throat entirely, and her eyes flew open as she collapsed weakly upon the ground, coughing and choking and gasping her hair, her whole form heaving with wheezing breaths. She could not comprehend the flash of white light that rent the air from beyond her closed lids, or the shriek of pain that accompanied it, followed by a booming shout of triumph. The only thing that mattered was that she caught her breath, for if she did not, death would claim her with frightening speed.

With shaking fingers, she reached up to touch the place where she felt the phantoms of Hate's fingers at her throat. The marks felt raw and seared painfully at her gloved touch. Letting her hand fall away from her throat, Amy rolled limply onto her side, still breathing as heavily as though she had just run a marathon, but what she saw promptly made her forgot her difficulties.

Time seemed to have stretched and slow down, becoming the lowest form of slow – motion. Sonic was in the act of throwing himself at Hate, curled into a tight ball, while the Maginaire raised one hand, her face contorted with rage as onyx black energy ballooned at her shoulder, condensing into a solid black shadow that sheathed her thin hand. Doom was mirroring her actions, his face a mangled, bloody mess, crimson eyes burning with hatred as he glared at Sonic's oblivious form.

"Sonic, look out!" Amy screamed, pushing herself to her feet, her heart threatening to burst from her chest. As her cry rent the air, time returned to normal speed, and Sonic slammed into Hate's face with supernova-class force, blasting the howling Maginaire off her feet, casing her beam of energy to shoot off target, rocketing harmlessly high up into the sky. At the same moment, Doom let out a wordless bellow and leashed a blast of writhing, coal black fire upon Sonic, moving so fast that its form appeared blurred.

But Sonic was not about to be defeated so easily; he moved so fast that he left an image of himself on the place where he had landed, and the ghost-him's face was frozen in a childish display of disdain, his tongue sticking out to convey how unimpressed he was. The real Sonic, meanwhile, was reduced to a streak of blue as he appeared behind Doom, his mouth a grim slash of concentration as he caught one of the Maginaire's arms, swung him off his feet and spun him around as one would a small child, and then, with the smallest grunt of effort, he released him, sending the Maginaire's splayed form flying towards Amy, while the hedgehog shouted, "Here, Amy!"

Amy did not need telling twice; she whipped out her hammer, all her breathlessness forgotten, and she clenched its handle so tightly that sparks flew from the pink flames that had erupted around its head. She swung her hammer over her shoulder like a baseball bat, its head connecting with Doom's ashen grey face dead center, and he unleashed a roar of unimaginable pain as he was blasted back towards Sonic like a tennis ball caught in a ferocious match between two world champions-

Sonic launched himself at Doom with a sonic boom, his form curled into a tight ball, and as he crossed the distance between him and his enemy in less than a second, Amy could have sworn that his form flashed gold. But as soon as she blinked, the illusion was gone, and Sonic had slammed into the final Maginaire, rebounding slightly as he landed on his feet in a tight coil, hands clenched at his sides. To Amy's surprise, Doom did not fly back towards her; instead, a current of blood red light ran over his form, spread eagled in mid-air, turning the places it passed over into nothing but a solid shadow. As the current ran over his feet and vanished from sight, all the sound was sucked from the plateau, condensing into the Maginaire's slim center with a noise like a laser cannon charging. There was a beat of absolute silence, and then the shadow shuddered and exploded with such force that Amy felt her eardrums pop. A blast of pure white light exploded off of Doom's form, mingling with shard of black, and it filled the plateau in less than a second. As it passed through Amy, however, she felt as though an agonizing electric current was tearing through her body, her vision was tunnelling and she felt as though she were moving forwards very fast-

Then everything settled into a world of blinding bright light. Amy couldn't be sure, however, because she felt as though she were observing everything through a veil of extremely murky water, as one might observe a dream.

Hovering before her bewildered form, however, was someone Amy had not seen for several weeks. They were holographic and flickering, as Tails and Rouge and the others had been, glowing a ghostly green around the edges, but Amy was too bewildered to care.

"C-Cosmo?" she stammered, her eyes widening in disbelief as she stared at the Seedrian who had sacrificed herself to destroy Illumina. Cosmo smiled slightly, her bright blue eyes still haunted by an ancient sadness, and she bowed her head, whispering, "Hello, Amy."

"What's going on?" Amy demanded, her voice shaking as she stared about her murky surroundings, panic clawing up her throat as she realized Sonic was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Sonic?"

"I don't have much time," Cosmo murmured, her voice tinged with sadness, and Amy noticed sharply that her friend had not answered her question. "Please, listen to me, for it is of vital importance in regards to what is about to happen. Will you listen, Amy?"

Amy nodded stiffly, unable to speak, for a large lump of fear had lodged itself in her throat. "Good," Cosmo said, her voice soft, mournful. "I'm about to tell you something Illumina does not know, something that is vital to destroying her. I altered the legend of immorality on my mother's orders, so that Illumina would not destroy the entire universe out of fear for her life. Do you remember?"

Amy nodded uncertainly; why was she telling her this? But she did not voice her question aloud, for Cosmo's strangely accented voice suddenly became ten times more urgent, capturing her attention. "The true significance of the sacrifice's power is to aid the downfall in the destruction of the one who seeks to claim your powers. Only a being possessed with nothing but love for another could hope to be blessed with such abilities, Amy, and the strength of your love for Sonic was the reason you were given the sacrifice's power. Quite simply, it means that it is not your destiny to die in the name of evil, it is to do all in your power to make sure the downfall lives as long as possible."

Amy felt as though the world around her was spinning, her head pounding painfully at this new revelation. Though her conscious self had not yet deciphered the meaning of the Seedrian's words, her subconciousness was reeling, grasping the purpose of this revelation much quicker than her awareness.

"What -?" Amy began, uncertain what she was about to say, but Cosmo waved a hand frantically through the air, effectively silencing her.

"Illumina has set up an obstacle to make sure you cannot reach her," the Seedrian informed her, her voice growing louder as her speech became more urgent. "It is of vital importance that you pass through it before Sonic. This obstacle is the only thing that separates Illumina from her downfall. Do you understand what I'm trying to tell you?"

Amy did not trust herself to speak; her world had been turned upside-down and inside-out, changing her entire perspective on life. She understood, Cosmo's cryptic message perfectly, and yet she could not confirm it out loud, for speaking the simple, three-lettered word would make it official, sealing her fate more effectively than gluing an envelope shut. But apparently, her comprehension was written all over her face, for Cosmo smiled sadly, her eyes sparkling with empathetic tears.

"I'm sorry, Amy," she whispered, and her voice was completely honest, sincere. "But it's the only way. I guess I'll see you again shortly."

And with that, the Seedrian, and her strange surroundings, faded into blackness, a blackness that Amy drifted through like a spirit, her consciousness reeling. _There's got to be another way, _she thought desperately, repeating the words over and over again without believing them. _That can't be my fate, to make it this far and to just give up. It can't be..._

"Amy?"

Sonic's panicked voice shattered her terrified black oblivion, and she became aware that someone was shaking her shoulders violently. "Amy, can you hear me?"

Amy's eyes fluttered open, and she stared up into Sonic's light green eyes without really seeing them, unsure of what emotions were coursing through her. Her friend was oblivious to her changed state of mind, apparently, for his form deflated with a relieved sigh, his wide eyes closing slightly. "Thank the gods," he breathed, hugging her to him as he pulled them upright. "I thought...I thought you were..."

"I'm okay," Amy whispered, letting herself fall weakly against Sonic's chest, who registered the faintness of her voice immediately, and he held her at arm's length, his eyes full of concern.

"What happened?" he demanded, his voice layered with suspicion, eyes unwavering from her own. Amy stared back at him, hoping that she wasn't betraying the dead, hollow feeling that was coursing through her in her face as she murmured, "I think I blacked out...or whited out, I don't really know..."

She proceeded to summarize her vision's events with really listening to herself talk, paying only enough attention to the words coming from her mouth to edit the events of her encounter with Cosmo so that Sonic would not know that death was coming for her as surely as he would end up facing Illumina alone. Her mind, meanwhile, was far away, the words the apparition of Void had spoken to her an eternity ago ringing through her mind.

'_I am only here to test your willingness to do what you would normally never do, to better serve the world.'_

Those words, words she had not understand at first, had proven to be more true than she could have imagined. They applied to her life perhaps more than they did to anyone else's, for who she could not think of anyone who would willingly give up their life, even if the fate of the world was in their hands. She was, perhaps, the sole exception to this inference; she, unlike most people, did not prize life more than anything else, for to her, life was pointless without Sonic, who was the most important thing in her life.

_And I'd give up anything to save him, _Amy realized, this thought giving her the strength to lift the sense of hollow unreality off of herself. _Even if it means giving up my own life._

_And you're not the only one willing to sacrifice your life for someone else, _she thought, and she remembered how Cosmo had given up an opportunity to live with them on Mobius when she touched the Precious Stone, an act that shattered Illumina's power source but also claimed her life.

She came away from her thoughts as she got to the part about the obstacle that would, apparently, claim her life. "... and Cosmo said that there's some sort of obstacle ahead, something we've gotta be pretty careful around. That's the only thing separating yo – _us_, from Illumina."

Amy thought she had been convincing in her lies, that she had managed to convince Sonic that the sacrifice's power was only given to them to lead the one attempting to claim immortality into a false sense of security, that Sonic had believed her when she said they were both meant to face off with Illumina. But his eyes narrowed with growing suspicion as she finished her speech, and Amy sensed that he knew she was leaving something out. Before he could open his mouth to speak, however, she cut across him, partly because she wanted to distract him, partly because she was honestly curious as to where they were.

"Where are we?" she asked, gazing about, looking appropriately bewildered. Sonic continued to gaze uncertainly at her for a few seconds, but he apparently decided that he could afford to answer her, for he waved a hand at the dimly-lit room they were standing in, an expression of disdain upon his face. "It looks like we're back in Eggy's base," he said, and Amy gave a soft "Oh," of comprehension, feeling stupid that she had not recognized the fleet of vehicles and metallic blue walls the moment they landed. "Which is fine with me, because I'm pretty sure we owe that son of a bitch a little something for stealing our powers."

Amy nodded absently, gazing about the room, searching for the place that would lead them to Illumina. It did not take long to spot it, for it contrasted so immensely with their surroundings, a mysterious veil of magic clashing with the ultimate example of technology.

A layer of thick, opaque golden mist fell like a curtain upon the secret entrance that Cream and unveiled when they were trying to find a way out of the room Eggman had constructed to house his monstrous machine. It sparkled invitingly, turning a bright white at the edges, and Amy saw that six shadowy figures were hovering in the middle of the layer, strangely familiar, and yet she could not place them. This, she was sure, was the obstacle, though she had no idea how it was supposed to snuff out her life. It looked completely harmless.

_But that must be the point, _offered a sly voice in her head, one unconcerned with her looming demise. _It's supposed to lead you into a false sense of security. Illumina's playing Sonic's cockiness like a harp._

Sonic stared at Amy through narrowed eyes, knowing that she was hiding something, tracing her strange mood shift to her brief spell of unconsciousness, during which she claimed to have conversed with Cosmo. _But what it is? _He searched himself fretfully for the answer for the dozenth time that minute, his feeling of frustration increasing by tenfold when he could not provide himself with an answer.

Suddenly, Amy's whole form stiffened, and an electric charge seemed to rent the air with this small movement. With unnerving speed, she whirled around, tearing her gaze away from the strange layer of golden mist he had noticed upon landing to face him, her dark green eyes huge and sparkling with tears, her tear tracks creating streaks of pink in her blackened fur.

"I can't do it!" she cried, her voice warbling with agony. "I just can't say goodbye!"

And with that cryptic sentence, she flung himself at him, wrapping her arms around his chest, her form heaving with silent sobs, pressing her wet face into his chest. "What are you talking about?" Sonic demanded, trying unsuccessfully to pry her off of him, dread filling him from head to toe as he sensed he was about to find out what his last friend had been hiding from him.

Amy choked on her silent sobs, lifting her tear-streaked face to stare at him, her lips trembling, such a heartbreaking expression upon her face that Sonic automatically reached up to put a gloved hand on her cheek, eyes full of concern.

"My destiny," she whispered, her eyes sliding closed, apparently unable to stare him in the eye as she spoke to him. "Is to help you get as close to Illumina as possible, not to help her destroy the world. And if we want Illumina to die, I have to also."

Sonic felt as though Amy was speaking to him from across an ocean of horror, the thunderous crashing of what could have been waves berating his ears. He stared at Amy, his brain grinding to a halt, preferring to wallow in incomprehension than examine the agonizing revelation her words were inducing.

"W-what?" he asked in bewilderment, his voice weak, bewildered. "W-why?"

"Because that's what Cosmo said," Amy whispered, her eyes sliding open, the picture of utmost pain. "And if we can't trust Cosmo, we can't trust anybody."

She made to disentangle herself from him, something she would never willingly do, not unless it was absolutely necessary. Sonic let her go, for his grip on her had gone from iron bars to broken twigs. He stared at her, refusing to listen to the truth that was screaming at him from behind a door he had slammed shut in its face.

"Please, Amy," he whispered, his voice pleading, something that had never been present in his voice before. "We can find another way in or something, you don't have to die –"

"We don't have time to find another way in," Amy responded gently, reaching out to touch his face with her fingertips. "It's the only way," she added, her eyes sliding closed. "And believe me, if it wasn't, I couldn't bear to do this. You're my best friend, Sonic, and the only hope Mobius has left."

She leaned in and kissed him swiftly on the cheek, while she pressed something into one of his hands, curling his fingers closed around it, and then she was gone, her blackened form sprinting towards the golden mist, which suddenly looked a lot more threatening. Sonic stood there, frozen, his mouth open in a silent shout of horror, one hand outstretched towards her retreating form, towards the girl who loved him, the one who was willing to give up everything for him, the only friend he had left-

Amy did not look back at him as she passed through the mist; it parted to allow her to pass through it, and her form instantly became nothing more than a shadow, one to join the six other figures who looked strangely familiar. For a moment, her shadowy form hovered there, and then, Sonic's mind was seized by a bright white light, with Amy's ghostly form hovering before him. She was no longer a burned and charred black, her dress ripped and tattered, but as perfectly pristine as she had been before they had entered the plain.

"I'll be with Cosmo and the others, now," she told him, her dark green eyes sparkling, whether with tears or happiness she did not know. "But sometimes, you've gotta do things you would normally never do, for the sake of Mobius. You've gotta go on and face Illumina. Please," her voice became no louder than a whisper, and a single tear rolled down her pink cheek. "For Tails and Cream and the others. For me."

She blew him a kiss and winked roguishly, and then her ghostly form faded into non-existence, the white light cleared so that he was once more standing in Eggman's vehicle hangar. Sonic was stunned, a sense of unreality crashing over him, and he stared blankly at the place where the golden mist had vanished, revealing passage into a pitch black room beyond.

Numbly, Sonic raised his hand up and looked at the thing Amy had pressed into his hand. It was her comlink. Sonic flipped it open, his eyes roving around the screen, unsure what he was looking for, and it took him several tries to register the words that were written upon its tiny screen in bright green letters.

_Super Heal._

With a howl, Sonic sank to his knees, his fists pounding the cold metal ground, the harsh reality of his situation crashing over him. Amy Rose had left Eggman's garage to a place he could not follow her, had left Mobius...had left Sonic.

He was truly alone now.


	20. Lone Warrior

_You don't know what you've got 'til it's gone._

Those words had never been more applicable to Sonic's life than they were now. He was rapidly spiralling into an oblivion of senseless, burning pain, agony that would not leave him until his heart stopped beating. As much as he hated to admit it, the pain of losing Cream and Cheese and Rouge was not as great as the combined torture that the deaths of Tails, Knuckles and Amy had induced in him. And until Amy's death, those pains had been bearable.

But she was gone now, having sacrificed herself so that he had a shot at Illumina, so that he would not have to die. And what had he done to stop her? Nothing. He had stood there like an idiot gaping at something he had never seen before, had not even shouted out in warning.

He had not even said good-bye.

And here he was, collapsed on his knees upon Eggman's cold metal floor, wallowing in his despair, letting his tears stream down his face, unchecked. There was no point in living if there was no one there to live it with.

_What's making me get up? _asked a hollow voice in his head, the one that was taking Amy's death the hardest. _There's no point in going on, not when Amy's dead..._

_But her last words to you were to go on! _Shouted another voice in his head, the angry, argumentative one, the one that drove him forwards, his iron core. _And what are you doing to honour them? Sitting on the ground, while the maniac responsible for her death is only a hundred steps away from you!_

Something strange flickered inside of Sonic, something he had not felt during his eternity of remorse, an alien, flaming sensation that rose up in his stomach like a dormant beast. It took him several seconds to recognize it as resolve. _Get up, _ordered the voice in his head, urging him upwards like a drill sergeant. _You've gotta make Illumina pay._

_In a minute, _Sonic responded, not yet strong enough to face reality. _I'll get up in a minute._

It took Sonic all of sixty seconds to gather his composure. He froze the pain he was experiencing, an almost impossible task, preserving it for later, for he had the deaths of seven friends to answer to. With a Herculean effort, he forced himself to his feet, wiping his face with the back of his glove. The blackness lifted, and he found himself once more inside Eggman's garage, facing the place where Amy had disappeared. The mist and shadows had now gone, revealing the gap that Cream had unveiled when they first left the base. The cavernous room beyond was almost completely black, and if Sonic hadn't known any better, he would have sworn it led to the outside world.

Taking a deep breath, Sonic strapped Amy's comlink onto his wrist, hesitating only to press a button labelled _Invisibility. _Immediately, his arm shimmered out of the visible spectrum, and Sonic held his hands up in front of his face, a savage grin spreading across his face as he stared into nothingness. He was going to enjoy this.

Before his resolve could waver, Sonic threw himself forwards, running as fast as he could without breaking the sound barrier. He exited the vehicle hangar, but only managed five strides into the room before he skidded to a halt. It was as different as it had been when he was first brought here than one could possibly imagine; there were no artificial lights, and the ceiling had been magically enhanced so that it perfectly resembled the night time sky, stars and strange, multicoloured tufts of light strewn about it, coupled with a full silver moon. The ground was soft and grassy, and he was surrounded by closely-set evergreen trees that stretched in every direction. If there were walls he could not see them, and Sonic cast a glance over his shoulder to see, to his dread, that the entrance to the garage had been whisked out of view, replaced by an army of vegetation. Sonic's head snapped back around, and he moved through the trees like a ghost, careful not to step on any twigs. He could see some sort of clearing up ahead, a perfect, treeless circle, and as he entered the circle, he stopped dead.

Amy was lying some twenty feet away, in the dead center of the circle, her form no longer blackened and ruined, but perfectly pristine, just as she had been in his vision, except now she was solid. Her eyes were closed, her chest did not move, but Sonic did not register this; he registered the woman standing over his friend, the woman that towered over him, her sheet of long blonde hair emitting a faint glow, her skin as pale as one could possibly imagine, pink and white robes fluttering around her in a non-existent breeze, her deep brown, almost black eyes, fixed upon the hedgehog at her booted feet.

"Sonic the Hedgehog," murmured Illumina, her lovely voice like a mixture of stardust and sunlight as she raised her head to stare at Sonic, her beautiful face almost curious as she cocked her head to the side, brown eyes sparkling with apparent delight as she stared at the exact place the invisible Sonic was standing.

Their eyes met, soulless brown and light green, and hatred so powerful rose up inside Sonic that the edges of his vision turned bloody red, maddened with bloodlust. Shaking with, Sonic flipped open his comlink and pummelled the button that would return him to visibility before flinging himself through the air towards Illumina, his arms outstretched hands curled into rigid claws as he rocketed towards the woman he hated, the woman who had taken the lives of his friends, wanting her to look death in the face-

But with an almost casual flick of her wrist, Illumina caused Sonic to freeze in mid-air, as she had, an eternity ago, upon the Egg Carrier. Sonic found that he could move his face, but he could not turn his head or move his limbs, suspended ludicrously like a marionette, ten feet from its puppet master.

"You f – you...you twisted little -" Sonic could not find the words to describe the evil woman before him, something that rarely happened to him. This seemed to amuse Illumina, for the goddess of Maginaryworld let out a note of tinkling laughter, though her eyes remained as cold as ever.

"Hello, Sonic," she murmured, her voice deadly quiet, head still cocked to the side as she stared at him, looking mildly enthralled. "It's been too long."

"Shut your mouth!" Sonic snarled, his teeth gnashing together viciously, writhing madly against his invisible bonds, but his arms would not respond to his brain's commands. Illumina's eyes narrowed at the hostility in his voice, and a cruel smile played about her lips as she chided, "I never knew you had such a temper, hedgehog. Was that what caused you to murder Amy Rose?"

"I – what?" Sonic asked, temporarily distracted by the goddess' inquiry. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Illumina's evil smile grew even wider, displaying bared white teeth. "I was watching you, Sonic, watching you the entire time you were in that garage. You just let her run into that mist, hedgehog; you didn't even try to stop her."

Each of the goddess' words felt like a slap in the face to Sonic, ringing throughout his mind like an eternal echo of horror. She was right, of course; he had done nothing to stop Amy from sacrificing herself, and to hear his mistake being remarked about by the one he hated so much was intolerable, unendurable.

"Don't...how...don't you dare talk to me about Amy!" Sonic shouted, practically spitting fire, and Illumina's smile grew ever wider as she looked at him, reduced to a shell of his former self, half-maddened with grief.

"Oh, but I will, Sonic the Hedgehog," she responded, starting to pace slowly around Amy's unconscious form, her eyes never leaving his face. "How does it feel, Sonic? To know that you could have prevented her death?" she paused, her eyes glittering maliciously as they locked onto Sonic, who glared back, seething with rage. "Do you hate me, Sonic? Are you feeling sorrow, or rage, or perhaps both?" she leaned in slightly, lips parted slightly. "Did you _love _her, Sonic?"

"Shut _up!" _Sonic roared, and with that burst of utmost anger, he broke Illumina's hold over him, landing hard on his feet, shaking with rage, but he did not advance upon Illumina, who merely looked amused that he had broken her enchantment. "Don't talk to me about Amy! Don't talk to me about _anyone, _you stupid...you puffed up..._bitch!"_

"Be quiet," hissed Illumina, her eyes flashing, a frightening red gleam present in the dark brown, and savage satisfaction coursed through Sonic as he sensed he had crossed some invisible line. "You are stupid and worthless, like all of your kind!"

The goddess was shaking with rage, her hands curled into fists, and a look of insanity was fixed upon her face, leeching her face of all its beauty as she glared at Sonic, hatred etched upon every line of her face. "I have waited millennia for a chance to avenge myself, to avenge the Maginaire's defeat at the hands of your ancestors, hedgehog! To destroy Mobius, to allow Maginaryworld to take its place!" panting slightly, Illumina began to pace back and forth, her robes swirling about, eyes flashing angrily. "A millennium ago, the Maginaires and the Mobians waged a war for supremacy, a war that would establish the stronger race of beings! Your kind triumphed through a combination of lies and dumb luck, and, barbarians that you are, you forced Maginaryworld into submission, reducing it to little more than a dream world!

"My predecessors were weak and stupid, unwilling to challenge the Mobians for supremacy; they thought that you had won honourably, that we had no right to challenge you. But I am not like them, Sonic the Hedgehog. No, I have waited too long for my chance at revenge, and I hate to think of the time I have wasted, blinded by light and goodness and _morality, _just like the fools before me...

"But upon hearing the legend of immortality, I realized that the sun and the moon' power would boost my abilities beyond matching, that they would allow me to help Maginaryworld claim back what is rightfully ours!"

"Yeah, well there's just one problem with all that crap," Sonic told her sarcastically, and Illumina hissed angrily, though she did not strike. "You don't have the sun or the moon's power."

The goddess' eyes flashed, and a menacing snarl of a smile appeared upon her lips. "Why do you think I am here, hedgehog? Surely you have registered Robotnik's absence of ominous. The fool travelled to my domain, he gave me life, and then he was foolish enough to lead me to the device that stole your powers, to show me how it operated...

"Perhaps you were thinking of challenging the stupid human and taking your power back. But I beat you to it, Sonic; I killed Doctor Robotnik over two hours ago, and then sun and the moon's powers are finally mine!" she finished, her crowing voice ringing with triumph. Though Sonic was horrified at this revelation, he did not let it show in his face; he continued to glare at Illumina with what he hoped was a mask of supreme indifference, while his mind quickly analyzed all the goddess had revealed.

He was aware that, over three thousand years ago, Mobius had been at war with another civilization, but he had never known that it was Maginaryworld. In fact, he still did not entirely believe that it had been against the dream world, for part of him thought that the story had just been mindless ranting on Illumina's part, an escalation of her madness. But he did not have time to struggle with the truth, opting instead to continue infuriating Illumina.

"Oh, I see," he said, rolling his eyes before glaring malevolently at the divine being before him. "You aren't trying to get back at me for killing you, you're trying to get revenge on Mobius because of some war you lost a thousand years ago and couldn't let defeat go. You're being..._noble."_

A shadow of inhumane rage passed over Illumina's face, and her whole form shuddered spasmodically for a second, but then she was in control again, a cruel, mirthless smile upon her icy face. "That's right, hedgehog," she whispered, her so venomous that it took every ounce of Sonic's willpower not to recoil. "And no one, not even you, will be able to stop me." She raised her hands high into the air, curling them into triumphant fists as she threw her head up to the artificial heavens, crowing, "Not when I have the power of the sun, the moon, and Maginaryworld on my side!"

Illumina looked down again, her eyes lowering slowly to glare at Sonic through murderous eyes. "How does it feel," she whispered, cocking her head to the side, mocking curiosity. "to know that you are about to be defeated with the moon's power? The power that Amy Rose was given, out of her love for you?"

Sonic shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I'm not about to be defeated by it."

His sarcastic comment seemed to infuriate the goddess more than the most vicious insult, for she let out an outraged scream, an insane, out of control sound, her eyes bulging slightly. "Wake up, hedgehog!" she snarled, hands curling into fists that glowed with golden energy. "I killed Robotnik. He stole your powers. _I have your powers now!"_

"Exactly," Sonic said, raising a finger, gaining malicious pleasure at the goddess' anger. "You have _my _powers. But look at what colour you hands are glowing right now," immediately, Illumina looked down at her hands, confusion flashing across her face, instantly whisked away by a cold sneer.

"Don't try to manipulate me, Sonic," the goddess snarled, her voice like shards of ice, betraying only the faintest trace of uncertainty. "You're trying to make me doubt my powers, aren't you?"

"I don't need to make you doubt," Sonic retorted, and Illumina flinched at his words, her malicious eyes widening ever so slightly, the fear in her face becoming slightly more pronounced. "You haven't been able to access any of Amy's powers, have you, Illumina? And no matter how much you try to convince yourself otherwise, you know, deep down, that Eggman never managed to steal Amy's powers from her."

Illumina seemed to be battling violently inside herself, trembling from the ferocity of her internal struggle, and then, her rage exploded out of her, her eyes maddened with hate, sparks flying out of her fingertips. "Amy Rose – is – _dead!" _she howled, hurling the words at Sonic as if they would cause him unendurable pain.

"Yep," Sonic agreed, repressing the pain that rose up inside of him at hearing the goddess speaking about Amy's death. "But her powers died with her. You know the legend of immortality, Illumina? The legend that you're so obsessed with? Cosmo altered it, you stupid princess, altered it so that you'd be lulled into a false sense of security."

"Don't lie!" spat Illumina, and though her voice was more poisonous than a viper, fear was clearly visible in her eyes now.

Sonic smiled tauntingly, revelling in the woman's despair, for her fear was a small fraction of the amount of suffering she had to answer for. "The sacrifice's true purpose is to aid the downfall in the defeat of the one who wants to become immortal. Amy's power, based on her love for me, died with her, because Eggman certainly didn't love me, and you," he tried to convey his disdain for the goddess in his eyes, sending a scalding beam of hatred towards her. "You love nothing, Illumina, except perhaps yourself, and that's not going to help you kill me."

Illumina's face was a mask of absolute shock. She stared at Sonic as though her were the most frightening creature she had ever seen, and Sonic used her speechlessness as an opportunity to continue to torment her. "How does it feel, Illumina? To know that your one great weapon, Amy's power, is not on your side at all? Do you think you'll still be able to kill me without it, because you seem to put a lot less stock in my power than hers."

The goddess was silent, staring transfixed at Sonic, fear, incredulity and hatred all present in her face, and then, without warning, she vanished, dissolving into thin air. As soon as she disappeared, Amy's chest heaved with a wild intake of breath, her dark green eyes flying open, reflecting the stars above.

"Amy!" Sonic shouted, jubilation coursing through him, and he flashed to his friend's side, taking her hands in his own. "Are you okay?"

Amy did not respond, and her eyes slid shut as she continued to gasp for breath, apparently exhausted. Sonic couldn't think straight, he was barely able to comprehend that Amy had not, in fact, died, that Cosmo had been wrong to say that her destiny was to sacrifice so that Illumina could be defeated-

But then he remembered that the goddess had vanished, possibly hiding on the outskirts of the circular clearing, waiting for the appropriate moment to strike. Sonic leapt to his feet, his muscles tensing as his eyes flickered around the clearing, probing the darkness for a swish of pink robes, a sign of blonde hair...

"Amy," he growled, not turning to face his friend, still searching for Illumina. "Amy, we gotta move, Illumina can't know you're still alive, I've gotta hide you..." he trailed off, for suddenly, he felt like everything had changed. The air seemed to have dropped several degrees in temperature, there was a faint, malevolent energy lacing the space around him, sings that he associated with the immediate arrival of danger.

"Amy?" Sonic asked tentatively, spinning around to face his friend, only to freeze. Amy was standing some ten feet away, though he had not heard her move, not registered the absence of her heavy breathing. She stood as still as a statue, her head bowed, hands clasped underneath her chin, dark eyes closed. And though there was nothing relatively foreboding about her pose, the hairs at the back of his neck stood on end, and his heart began to pound loudly against his ribs, fear clawing its way up his throat.

"Amy?" he called again, taking a tentative step forwards, one hand outstretched towards her motionless form. "Are you -?"

"Shut up!" Amy screamed, her voice a harsh, twisted crow that was most unlike its usual, and her eyes flew open, suddenly a burning, poisonous yellow. There was a wild fury upon her face, twisting her features into a frighteningly demonic mask of hatred, and her form suddenly turned black, wisps of onyx energy floating around her form. She rose into the air, though it reminded the petrified Sonic strangely of a puppet being hoisted into the air by invisible strings, her limp limbs snapping around, head drooping slightly. She came to a halt when she was twenty feet high in the air, and her head lolled backwards, eyes glowing evilly, her mouth opening disproportionately wide as she unleashed a twisted scream of mirth. Without warning, she raised one hand and unleashed a beam of lavender energy upon him, tearing towards him at light speed, crackling with electricity. Sonic shouted in alarm and flung himself to the side, but was immediately forced to somersault backwards as his friend unleashed another beam at him.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sonic shouted up at Amy, who merely cackled in response, sending four, five, six more beams rocketing towards him. But Sonic was fed up with dodging; with a sonic boom, he blasted himself out of the clearing so fast he left an image of himself in the place he had just departed, an image that was promptly banished by Amy's beam of energy. Sonic tried to tune out his friend's demonic laughter as he tore through the trees, weaving in and out, leaping over bushes and ducking under vines, his mind racing as fast as his feet.

Illumina was behind Amy's behaviour, he was absolutely certain of it. Rather than facing him herself, she was going to use his friend as a puppet to extract her revenge upon it, and then would almost certainly make Amy kill herself.

_She's alive, _Sonic realized, catching a low-lying branch with his hands and swinging himself forwards like a trapeze artist. _And Illumina's possessed her. Does that mean I have to sacrifice Amy to kill the goddess?_

The idea of himself being the one to claim Amy's life was intolerable, impossible, and yet he knew it was the only way to ensure the goddess of Maginaryworld would finally meet her end. Illumina was obviously as maliciously intelligent as he remembered, for she was playing an incredibly careful game, using his fear of causing Amy bodily harm to her advantage.

Amy's last words to him rang clearly through his mind, echoing off the corners of his consciousness like a ringing bell. _'Sometimes you need to do what you would normally never do, to help save Mobius.'_

Illumina had to die so that Mobius would be ensured of safety. But could he make Amy take the fall for their planet?

Amy opened her eyes, and was momentarily stunned that she could do such a thing. She had entered the mist, just as Cosmo had instructed her to, and was sure that that would be the last thing she ever did. But here she was, lying atop a cold metal floor, breathing deeply, something she never expected to be able to do again.

"Huh?" she said bewilderedly, sitting up and blinking around dazedly, trying to get acquainted with her surroundings. If she had to hazard a guess at where she was, she would have said she was inside an immense cockpit, the most technologically advanced one she had ever been in. All four walls were constructed of floor-to-ceiling windows, and a wrap-around dashboard ran along three of the four walls, covered in flashing buttons, knobs and monitors, all spewing out information. The sky beyond was pitch black and star-strewn, telling Amy that wherever she was, it was night time. But she did not register any of this, not really; her eyes were fixed upon the center of the room, where six people were facing her, all smiling hugely.

Cream and Cheese were sitting on the floor closest to her, both smiling hugely, the rabbit's face shining with happy tears as her bright brown eyes roved over her, her hands clasped in delight. Rouge sat in a swivel chair beside the pair, one leg crossed over the other, her elbow resting on the arm rest, propping her chin up on the back of her hand, her expression of boredom whisked away by a satisfied smile.

"About time!" she called, turning to smile at Knuckles, who was leaning against the side of her chair, arms folded across his chest, a rare smile lighting up his face as he winked at Amy, who stared back in bewilderment. Her eyes shifted to stare at Tails, who looked incredibly pleased with himself, bouncing on the balls of his feet, evidently ecstatic at her arrival, one of his hands holding tightly onto none other than Cosmo the Seedrian's, whose smile was, unlike the others, mingling with sorrow, her vast blue eyes shining with empathetic tears, free hand clasped upon her re-formed amulet.

"See, Tails!" Cream squealed in her pre-schooler voice, jubilation etched upon her face as she twisted around to face the fox. "I _told _you Amy would come! I told you!"

"Hello, Amy," Cosmo murmured, her strangely accented voice incredibly soft, as though Amy were a wild animal that could snap at any moment. "You have no idea how well you've done."

Amy stared back at Cosmo, her eyes growing ever-wider, and the absence of the seventh person in the room, the person who mattered most to her, the one who she had just died for, struck her suddenly, more powerful than a slap in the face. Sonic was not here, and she was separated from him by a thick veil that neither of them could get past, an iron curtain that kept the dead and alive away from each other. She was never going to see him again, never going to be rescued from him, or hug him, never go out on an actual date with him...

And so, Amy began to cry, surrendering herself to agonized sobs, sinking onto the floor, her hands wrapped around herself as she shook with unrestrained sorrow, the blood in her veins transforming into harsh, icy reality. She heard, as if from thousands of miles away, Rouge utter a small, sorrowful sound, heard Cream choke back her own sob, and felt someone patting her gently on the shoulder.

How long she lay there, Amy did not know; it could have been mere minutes, or perhaps an eternity, both full to the bursting of the unimaginable agony that came with losing the thing you cared about most forever. Also, there was no measure of time in this place that she had arrived in, the place that some analytical part of her brain thought to be heaven.

But what was heaven without Sonic?

It may have taken her years, but eventually, Amy forced herself to sit up, having run her supply of tears dry. Managing to stifle her sobs for the moment, Amy brushed the last of her tears out of her puffy eyes, hiccupping slightly as she looked up at her friends, feeling slightly embarrassed at her display, mingling with the agonizing throbbing of her heart, a sorrow that she thought was likely never to leave her completely.

"S-sorry," she stammered, wiping her face on the back of her gloved hand. "I-I just..." she trailed off, unable to speak, not knowing what she was intending to say anyway. Cream was watching her, tears pouring silently down her cheeks, and Tails was staring at her with an odd expression on his face, one that she realized slowly was pity. Knuckles and Rouge both looked slightly disturbed, exchanging looks that Amy associated with the ones that mourners at a funeral wore.

Cosmo, it seemed, had been the one patting her on the back, the ancient sadness in her eyes a hundred times deeper than that which had been present at their last encounter. A sad little smile was playing about her lips, and she took a step back from her as she met Amy's eyes, clasping her hands at waist level.

"It's alright, Amy," she told her quietly, her voice a barely audible sigh. "I know how you're feeling."

"No, you don't," Amy said suddenly, her voice transforming the sorrowful silence in the cockpit to a tense layer of coldest ice. She was on her feet, with no memory of how she got there, and her fists were clenched at her sides, her form trembling with sudden rage as she stared at the six people before her, inexplicably angry at them. "You have no idea how I feel."

"Yes I do," Cosmo answered patiently, her voice taking on the infuriating quality of a teacher explaining a simple math equation to someone rather dumb. "I know exactly how you feel."

"No you _don't!" _Amy screamed the last word, channelling all her fury at her fate, the impossible sorrow she felt at being yanked away from Sonic, into the anger in her voice, and so forceful was her shout that Tails, Cream, Knuckles and Cosmo's hair flew out behind her. "You don't know how I feel right now! You're all sitting there, with the person you care about most sitting safely beside you, while Sonic-" she broke off, shaking slightly, and then exploded into speech like an erupting volcano. "SONIC'S STILL ALIVE, ABOUT TO FACE OFF WITH ILLUMINA BY HIMSELF, AND IT'S YOUR FAULT!" she pointed a finger at Cosmo, who alone seemed untroubled at Amy's outburst, actually smiling slightly at her accusation. Cream, meanwhile, whimpered quietly, and scooted backwards to cower behind a stunned Tails.

"IT'S YOU FAULT, COSMO, BECAUSE _YOU _TOLD ILLUMINA THAT STUPID STORY, _YOU _CURSED ME WITH THAT-" she swore so viciously that Rouge raised her eyebrows, looking mildly impressed. "SACRIFICE'S POWER, _YOU FORCED ME TO LEAVE SONIC BEHIND! _SO DON'T TELL ME YOU KNOW HOW I FEEL, COSMO, DON'T YOU DARE, BECAUSE NONE OF YOU, _NONE OF YOU, _HAD TO WATCH EACH OF YOUR FRIENDS DIE RIGHT BEFORE YOUR EYES, OR FACE OFF WITH MANIACS FROM MAGINARYWORLD, OR DIE BECAUSE OF SOME STUPID PROPHECY!"

Her voice was so shrill that she was sure that soon only Rouge would be able to hear her.She stopped shouting, breathing as heavily as though she had just run a marathon, though her rage had by no means subsided; she was merely out of breath, and would continue to shout and berate Cosmo the moment she had regained her strength.

But as she stared at the people before her, her rage disintegrated and solidified as a hot, burning mass of shame, which quickly evaporated her hatred for Cosmo. Closing her eyes, Amy winced at her rapid change in emotion, wishing she could take back the past forty seconds, then opened them once more, staring pleadingly into her friends' faces, alighting finally on Rouge, who looked the least stunned.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, straightening up, forcing herself not to look at Cosmo. "I didn't mean...it's just-"

"Hey, do I care?" Rouge asked, shrugging unconcernedly. "I'd be mad too, Rosey. But I think someone had better wash out your mouth." She winked and cast a half glance at Knuckles, the corners of whose mouth twitched.

Amy could not help herself; she looked at Cosmo, who was still wearing her infuriatingly calm expression, as if she had anticipated all this and was merely waiting for her chance to speak. "I'm sorry, Cosmo," Amy muttered, blushing furiously, forcing herself to meet the Seedrian's eyes. "It's not your fault at all, I shouldn't have said any of that."

"No, you shouldn't have," Tails said suddenly, his gaze surprisingly angry as his bright blue eyes bored into Amy's darker ones. "Cream's been scarred for life."

But his face relaxed into a teasing smile, and everyone except Cosmo and Amy laughed, the tension shattering into a thousand miniscule pieces. Amy grinned grudgingly, and, wishing to distract everyone from her outburst, waved her hand at the impressive mass of technology surrounding them, asking feebly, "Where are we?"

"The Tornado 2.0!" Tails announced proudly, gazing happily around the cockpit. "I was meaning to upgrade the Tornado after we got back from Mobius, but..." he trailed off, and Amy saw him wince, undoubtedly at the memory of his plane crashing outside Eggman's base.

"'Meaning' to?" Amy asked, raising her eyebrows slightly. "So does that mean that we're...that we're...?"

"Dead?" Cosmo finished for her, and Amy nodded, a lump having risen up in her throat and preventing her from finishing her sentence. "Yes, we are. Allow me to explain, for some of us have been here for a very long time and have been dying for an explanation, which I refused to give until everyone arrived."

Amy nodded slowly, growing slightly self-conscious at all the staring, and sank slowly onto the ground, facing Cosmo and Tails, while Cream crawled forwards and sat on her left, Cheese drifting behind her. Rouge spun her chair around so that she was facing the Seedrian, causing Knuckles to overbalance and topple to the ground, growling incoherently as the bat laughed softly.

"You all know that after I shattered the Precious Stone, I was killed," Cosmo began matter-of-factly, and Tails winced at the frank tone in which she talked about her death. "Immediately, I was reunited with my mother, who told me that I had not yet finished my time with you. She told me that there was still the possibility that Illumina would come back to life, and so she told me what to do if that ever happened. Since then, I have been watching over you, waiting for what my mother anticipated to come to fruition, which it did with alarming speed.

"As a spirit, I have little control over the happenings in the real world, and so I was powerless to help you when you first encountered Doom and his siblings. Cream, as the first to die, came to me first, and though she was initially wary, she accepted my explanation all the same." She smiled warmly at Cream, who giggled quietly, burying her face in Amy's shoulder.

"Tails was next to join us," Cosmo positively beamed at her words, and the fox smiled sheepishly, giving the Seedrian's hand a brief squeeze. "And he was very interested in the possibilities that death provided us with. He asked me whether or not things that had not existed in Mobius existed in the spirit realm, which they did, and so he promptly conjured the Tornado 2.0.

"From here, we've been watching the events that unfolded on the plain. As I'm sure you've guessed, Doom and his siblings transformed the forest outside Eggman's base into an empty plateau so that you would be unable to hide from them, an unfortunately good idea, as it happened.

"Rouge and Knuckles came next, and I was certain that you and Sonic would both be able to make it to Illumina without suffering defeat at her servants' hands. But while we were watching you struggle on the plain, we were also keeping track of Eggman and Illumina's progress inside his base. Illumina, as I'm sure you deduced when she murdered Void and Lumina, believes that she must be the most powerful being in whatever world she happens to be in, and so when Eggman revealed that he had stolen yours and Sonic's powers, she drained him of your powers and then killed him."

Tails made a gagging noise, while Cream gasped in shock and Knuckles and Rouge exchanged incredulous looks. Amy's mouth dropped open into a perfect 'o' of shock, and she spluttered, "Eggman's..._dead?"_

Cosmo nodded slowly, her face expressionless. "How do you feel?"

Amy was not quite sure how she felt; her mind was a jumble of swirling, chaotic emotions, most of which she could not identify. Eggman had been her enemy for as long as she could remember, someone to be hated and defeated, an eternal threat to Mobius' safety. But after Illumina's change of heart, Eggman had become almost tame in comparison, more of a sideshow than the main attraction, and she was not altogether surprised when she realized she felt no joy in the doctor's death. She was surprised, however, when she realized that if the doctor's fate had been in her hands, she felt certain that she would have saved him.

Cosmo nodded wisely, as if she were in tune with Amy's emotions. "There is no joy in murder," she murmured sagely, and out of the corner of her eye, Amy saw Rouge roll her eyes, unimpressed with the deep quality the conversation had taken on. "Illumina learned quickly that you and Sonic were on your way to meet her, and so she conjured up the golden mist you encountered to stop you. Even though I have little power over the events in the real world, it doesn't render me completely useless, and so I managed to alter it so that after one person passed through it, the mist would vanish.

"It was then that I spoke to you, Amy, informing you of your true destiny. If Illumina had not thought to put the mist as an obstacle, I think that you wouldn't have needed to fulfill it, but she did, and so it was vital that you passed through the mist first."

Amy felt slightly stunned as Cosmo's words washed over her, her brain grinding to a halt as she processed what they meant. To know that it was possible for her to avoid her destiny, that she had been so close to staying with Sonic, that it was a mark of Illumina's cruelty that she had thought to separate them, fuelled her hatred for the goddess, transforming it from the small fire it had previously been to a raging inferno of absolute malice.

"What a bitch," Rouge muttered, putting Amy's thoughts into words, anchoring her to the present.

"I agree," Cosmo murmured, nodding slowly. "It was very cruel of her to do such a thing. Then again, she was unlikely to take chances with you two, and is determined that she does not waste her second chance at life. Right now, Sonic and Illumina are facing off, and the goddess' destruction is drawing ever closer."

"How do you know?" demanded Knuckles, always the pessimist. Cosmo turned her gaze upon the echidna, raising her eyebrows.

"Illumina does not have the sacrifice's power on her side," the Seedrian told the group at large, all of whom were stunned at this revelation, albeit Amy. "For it is born of Amy's love for Sonic, which the goddess does not have."

At this, Rouge and Knuckles began to laugh uncontrollably, but they were silence by the look Cosmo threw them. "The only way to defeat Illumina once more will be for Sonic to find a way to get to Maginaryworld and destroy the Precious Stone," the Seedrian explained, and Tails nodded thoughtfully at her words, apparently seeing no flaw in this logic.

Everyone lapsed into silence, each lost in their own thoughts, but after several seconds, Rouge shattered it. "Isn't that bad?" she asked slowly, and everyone turned to look at her, Cosmo looking mildly impressed.

"Why is it bad?" she asked politely, as though she was a teacher and Rouge had only half-answered a math problem. The bat looked to be restraining herself from rolling her eyes with great difficulty, but then she continued, "Well, you touched the Precious Stone, and then you died, right? So –" She broke off, horror infecting her features like a disease. Amy's mouth fell open, shock paralyzing her, rooting her to the spot, rendering her incapable of doing anything but staring at Cosmo in utmost horror.

The Seedrian nodded slowly, her expression mild in comparison to those of Tails, Knuckles, Cream, Cheese and Rouge. "Yes," she murmured, bowing her head. "In order for Illumina to die, Sonic must also."

"No, no, _NO!" _Amy screamed, the explosion of rage that occurred inside her chest allowing her to unfreeze herself. She sprinted across the space between herself and Cosmo and, moving so close that her face was an inch away from the Seedrian's, she demanded, "Are – you – _insane?"_

"It is the only way," Cosmo answered calmly, raising her head up and meeting Amy's eyes evenly, ignoring the remark about her sanity. "Do you have any alternatives?"

Amy could only gape at Cosmo, so exasperated was she that she could not find words to convey her fury to the Seedrian. The idea of Sonic and death being in the same sentence was impossible, intolerable. No matter how much she wanted to see her friend again, she would be willing to wait as long as she had to for him to die a natural death, trade her heart's desire for her wish for Sonic to live as long as possible.

Cosmo, apparently taking Amy's silence as a sign of submission, smiled slightly and stepped away, turning to stare outside the window once more. But at that moment, a loud crack rent the horrified silence, accompanied by a flash of white light, and suddenly, incredibly, Lumina Flowlight was hovering before them.

"Gah!" Rouge cried, toppling out of her chair and knocking Knuckles over. Cosmo whirled around, her panicked expression becoming one of unnerving hostility as she glared at the friend who had betrayed them all, while Cream screamed in terror and flung herself behind Tails, who had leapt to his feet, his expression a violent struggle of shock and rage. Amy's heart was drumming an angry tattoo inside her skull, and with a growl, she reached for her hammer, and she was enraged to find that it was not there.

"I'm very sorry to interrupt," Lumina whispered, her hands clasped beneath her chin, crystalline blue eyes closed, apparently oblivious to the hostility that was almost tangible. "But there is something very important I need to say."

"Shut your mouth," growled Knuckles, leaping to his feet so that he could glare at the Maginaire, his fists clenched. "I'm sorry if you never got the memo, but we don't want you here!"

"Please," Lumina whispered, her eyes sliding open, roving about the room, searching for a face that was not hostile, resting for a fraction of a second upon Cream's bemused one, then settling upon Amy. "You must listen to me. Sonic is in mortal danger!"

Amy's heart skipped a beat, uncertainty flickering through her, but she banished it instantly, suspecting that the Maginaire was lying. "No duh," snorted Rouge, who had kicked her swivel chair aside, never having met Lumina but hearing all about her betrayal from Knuckles. "Anyone who comes within ten miles of that maniacal goddess is in danger."

Lumina shook her head frantically, and Amy had to admire how well she was coping with the hatred directed at her. "Listen to me, there isn't much time; Amy has possessed your body, Amy, and is using it to attack Sonic."

"_What?" _Amy shouted, all her anger instantly dispelled, and she ran forwards, goggling Lumina, her heart fluttering in panic.

Lumina rose high up into the air, looking at every face in turn, which – albeit for Cosmo's – had morphed from hostility to confusion. "I know that none of you harbour any good-will for me, especially after all I have caused you, and I'm not saying I deserve it. I am here of my own accord, for I, as impossible as it seems, am sorry for my crimes against all of you, and am attempting to redeem myself in your eyes by helping you save Sonic."

"Why should we trust you?" spat Rouge, though Amy heard a faint amount of uncertainty in her voice.

"Because," Lumina answered, floating over to hover beside Rouge's head. "If you don't, the entire universe will suffer the consequences."

Even if it had not been such an ominous statement, Amy would have been sold by Lumina's proclamation. If there was the slightest possibility that what the Maginaire was saying was true, than she was going to listen to her. "How do you know?" she demanded, urgency ringing through her voice.

"I have seen it," Lumina answered, turning to face Amy, her hand clasped over the tear-shaped, ruby red jewel fixed upon her chest. "And unless we act fast, Sonic's fate will be sealed."

"Okay," Tails said, jumping to his feet, sounding convinced. He, like Amy, would not stand for Sonic being in danger. "What can we do?"

Amy cast the fox a fleeting, appreciating look, and Tails winked back, grim agreement passing between them. But Lumina was speaking, talking so fast that Amy had to use all of her concentration to make out what the Maginaire was saying.

"The only way we'll be able to save him is to return from the dead," the fairy-like girl began, but Cosmo interrupted sharply.

"Is that even possible?" she demanded harshly, clearly still mistrustful of Lumina, and, after all she had put her through, who could blame her?

"Yes, I think so," Lumina answered, sparing Cosmo half a glance before returning her gaze to Amy's, a faint blush present in her cheeks; clearly, she could not yet face the momentous task of apologizing to the Seedrian. "My consciousness was separated from Illumina's after I died, and so my magic is now my own. Forgive me for sounding immodest, but I'm rather powerful, you know, and returning you to life should be within my capabilities.

"I will be able to return one of you to your bodies immediately; as for the other six, I'll seal you in enchanted sleeps and protect you with magical enchantments until someone can free you. Don't worry," Lumina smiled wryly at the stunned expressions upon everyone's faces. "You'll be completely safe, perhaps more so than anyone else in the universe."

Something was cracking through Amy's stunned state, something she recognized as hopelessness. "Lumina," she whispered, her heart sinking as she realized something. "Illumina's possessing my body. I won't be able to go back, will I?"

"No, you will," Lumina responded promptly, and Amy's spirits soared. "But you won't be able to return to life until Illumina is removed. Until Sonic manages to do so, you will hover in limbo, neither here nor there."

Amy nodded, paling slightly as she faced the daunting prospect of hovering between death and life for an undetermined amount of time. Lumina paused, apparently concentrating hard on something, but then her face blanched, eyes widening in horror. "We have about ten minutes to save Sonic," she whispered, sounding mortified, and Amy's stomach twisted itself into a painful not. "Please, choose the one you want to return to life first, and quickly!"

Everyone immediately exchanged startled looks, panicking about having to make a decision so fast, as people faced with stressful decisions always do. Then, they burst into speech, deciding that the quicker they offered a candidate's name, the better.

"Knuckles," Amy said immediately, unable to think of anyone more capable of defeating the goddess.

"Tails," Cosmo announced, smiling slightly at Tails.

"Rouge," Knuckles said, winking at the bat.

"Knuckles," Rouge said, throwing Knuckles such a soppy look that Amy gagged inadvertedly.

"Cosmo," Tails said, finality ringing clearly in his voice.

"Cosmo!" Cream cried, in a sing-song voice.

"Chao!" Cheese said, pointing gleefully at Cosmo.

Cosmo opened her mouth in surprise, realizing that she had gotten the most votes. Her eyes flashed to Amy's face and away so fast that she couldn't be sure that it had happened, and then she said surprisedly, "Me? But I –"

Lumina cut her off, clasping both hands over her amulet, her eyes sliding shut. "Spirits of the light that shines far and wide upon our land," she cried, her musical voice ringing with power, making it much more forceful than usual. "Lend me your power so that I may return these seven to life, the seven who hold the power to save a world threatened with eternal darkness!"

For a moment, nothing happened, and then the dim lighting of the cockpit threatened and died, an ominous rumble sounding from outside the plane. Suddenly, the plane shuddered violently and tilted forwards, causing Amy to slip and fall backwards, bowling over Cream, while Knuckles swore and staggered backwards, saved from falling by Rouge, who had jumped instinctively into the air, swearing in surprise. Cosmo and Tails both somersaulted backwards, a mass of flailing limbs and torsos, and for a moment, chaos reigned, until the plane shuddered violently and straightened out, silencing the blaring of the monitors upon the dashboard. Tails leapt to his feet and ran to check the readings, while everyone else grumbled slightly as they peeled themselves off the ground.

As Amy straightened up, Lumina opened her eyes, and she was startled to see that they were now a solid, molten gold, devoid of whites and pupils. "Are you ready to go?" she asked, her voice still thundering forcefully, and the Maginaire winced apologetically, clearly unaccustomed to being so loud.

Amy turned to stare at Cosmo, who had been staring at her with a slightly apologetic expression upon her face. She thought she knew why; the Seedrian was feeling guilty about taking the chance to return to life immediately, a chance she correctly suspected Amy would do anything to have, even though it was, under the current circumstances, impossible.

"My life is in your hands, Cosmo," Amy told the Seedrian, and everyone laughed, though Cosmo's was slightly shaky. But Amy trusted the Seedrian, for she believed that Cosmo's desire for destiny fulfillment was not so extreme that she would gamble her life in the process. This trust was clearly plain upon her face, for Cosmo smiled at Amy, the sadness in her eyes lifting slightly.

"I'll be careful with it," she murmured reassuringly, and Amy grinned as she crossed the distance between them, hugging the Seedrian briefly.

"Please," Lumina said suddenly, and her voice was strained, leading Amy to believe that she was having difficulty keeping her power in check. "I need to release this energy, or it's going to fry all of our brains, dead or not."

"Right," Tails said nervously, clearly not eager to find out if Lumina could really fry their brains. Amy retreated from Cosmo, moving to stand beside Tails, and they lined up some five feet away from Cosmo, who looked very nervous.

"Lumina," she said suddenly, lifting her face up to stare at the Maginaire, who was shaking violently, her knees drawn up to her chest, eyes clenched shut. "Thank you – for doing this, for helping to save Sonic."

"No problem," Lumina gasped, her eyes sliding open, her mouth twisting into a pained smile. "But you've really got to go."

Cosmo was halfway through saying good bye when a beam of plasmatic blue energy struck her straight in the face, emanating out from Lumina's jewel. A current of white let sped down the Seedrian's form, vanishing the parts of her body it touched, and in less than a second, the Seedrian had vanished.

Lumina turned to face the place where the rest of them were lined up, her face contorted with concentration. "No time for good-byes," she stammered, and then she lost control over her magic, sending a beam of the same plasmatic blue energy rocketing towards Cream, who was closest to her, a small sliver of it breaking away from the main body to hit Cheese straight in the face. The pair barely had time to squeal before they were whisked into on-existence. Two more beams were unleashed from Lumina's amulet, striking Rouge and Tails at the same time, and then the Maginaire gasped with an effort that sounded like it would kill her, managing to bring the chaotic blasting under control.

"I'll be seeing ya, Lumina," Knuckles said with a wink.

"Thanks for doing this," Amy added, her voice honest, grateful.

"I...owe it...to you," Lumina gasped, and with that, two more beams exploded out of her, rocketing lightning-fast towards the remaining Mobians. Amy did not even have time to close her mouth before the beam had hit her, blasting her into limbo.

_Hang tight, Sonic, _she thought, before spiralling into blackness.


	21. Bitter

Sonic clenched his eyes shut, his feet automatically carrying him across the forest. _What do I do? _he demanded of himself, feeling completely torn. Two voices answered him, both battling for his attention.

The first voice, one that he rarely listened to because it was so often giving him advice about Amy, shouted, _How can you even be considering attacking her? She's obviously not dead, Illumina's probably just possessing her, and she knows that if you want to kill her, you'll be killing Amy, too!_

_She's dead! _roared another voice in his head, the one that he almost always listened to. _She's dead, and she's not coming back! What does she need her body for in the afterlife? Attack her!_

Sonic stopped dead in his tracks, his heart pounding indecision through his veins. Cradling his head in his hands, he tried to clear his head, all but the two voices, which he had named 'Doubt' and 'Instinct'. But as he realized that the struggle between the two was closer than it had ever been before, he knew he was going to have to make the decision by himself.

"Help me!" he growled, straining to hear sounds of Amy's approach. But to his surprise, the words of the very girl he was hiding from echoed throughout his mind, ringing with certainty. _Sometimes you've gotta do what you'd normally never do, to help save Mobius._

"Right," Sonic muttered, his eyes snapping open, head clearing. He turned and sprinted back towards the clearing, and the sounds of Amy's approach, the smashing of trees, the crashing noises of crushing bushes, began to grow louder with every passing second-

But then, the forest had gone in a flash of white light, all the trees vanishing, replaced by tall, thin yellow grass. Sonic immediately flung himself onto the ground, thanking whatever gods there were that his quills did not surpass the top of the grass. He lay perfectly still, breathing as quietly as he could while his heart thundered in his ears, straining to catch the sounds of Amy's approach. She was soaring overhead like an oversized bird, her limbs snapping about, head lolling back, and as she swooped in the opposite direction, Sonic's breath caught in his throat, and he inched forwards, more quiet than a snake in the grass.

With an inhumane screech, Amy whipped around, her arms flying about her torso, poisoned yellow eyes glowing like lighthouse spotlights that were trained upon Sonic's form. Cursing his misfortune, Sonic's muscles tensed like a spring, his eyes fixed upon Amy's swooping form, and he leapt high into the air, curled into a streaking blue ball of utmost concentration, and then he plummeted downwards like a skydiver, just as Amy streaked underneath him. He slammed into her back with devastating force, repressing the shame that welled up inside him as his possessed friend shrieked with pain and rage. Pulling out of his ball, he turned and flung himself at Amy, who had just managed to stagger upright, the force of his blow knocking her backwards. She writhed and screamed beneath him, trying to push him off, but to no avail.

"Shut _up!" _Sonic hissed, and he punched her as hard as he could in the stomach, causing Amy's breath to rush out of her lungs. She buckled, clutching her stomach, and with an angry hiss she kicked Sonic off of her. Not expecting this, Sonic managed to recover in time to land heavily upright, and immediately launched himself forwards, landing a powerful punch in the center of Amy's face, causing her to stagger backwards, gasping in pain.

"Sonic!" she whispered, her voice returned to its normal light, bubbly original one, her eyes darkening to jade. "How could you?"

Sonic felt as though he had been doused in cold water, and he reared back stunned, his eyebrows raised in confusion. But with a demonic outburst of laughter, Amy's fingers curled into fists, her eyes transforming into burning yellow once more, and with an inhumane screech she flung herself forwards, tackling Sonic, and before he could even blink, her hands were around his throat, crushing the air from his throat, her teeth bared in a malicious snarl.

Spluttering indignantly, Sonic raised his hands and pried Amy's stranglehold of a grip off of his throat, kicking her off as hard as she could. Screeching angrily, Amy flew through the air, but somehow, incredibly, she managed to halt her progress, and with an ear-splitting scream that caused her hair to fly back, Amy blasted Sonic off of his feet with an invisible explosion of energy. His arms stretching to breaking point, Sonic bit back a roar of pain as he collided hard with the ground, skidding across it and coming to a halt with a deep skid mark to mark his path, half-buried in dirt. Breathing deeply, Sonic leapt to his feet, knowing that Amy would not spare him a moment to catch his breath. Brushing dirt from his eyes, he scanned the thick yellow grass for a sign of his attacker, who, though he could not see her, screamed in utmost terror, a piercing shriek of agony that cut off with unnatural abruptness.

"Amy?" Sonic called out tentatively, forcing his way forwards, his wariness combating with his fear for her, and he spotted her lying sprawled amongst a mass of flattened grass, an electric blue current running along her trembling form.

"Amy!" Sonic shouted, throwing himself onto his knees beside her, rolling her onto her side so that he could see her face. At her name, Amy's eyes slid open, and they were once more a dark, pained jade that watered with agonized tears.

"Sonic?" she whispered, sounding bemused. "Wh-what -?"

"It's okay," Sonic breathed, slightly overwhelmed at her abrupt change in personalities. "You're okay, Illumina's gone for now."

"Illumina?" Amy whispered in confusion, her dark eyes sparkling dazedly.

"Yeah, Illumina," Sonic muttered gently, helping her to her feet. But the moment he did so, Amy's eyes became poisonous yellow, and with a triumphant shriek, she seized him by the wrists, her fingers wrapping around like iron bands, and her mouth opened unnaturally wide, allowing a thick black tentacle to swarm out of it. Sonic swore as viciously as he could, incredulous that he had been duped twice, and though he struggled more violently than he had in living memory, he could not break the slimy extension's grip. In less than five seconds, it had bound him from his neck down, and Amy, cackling excitedly, reached into her mouth and pulled the tentacle out, waving it tauntingly before Sonic, who choked out, "Think about what you're doing!"

"Oh, I am," hissed Amy, smiling hugely, and then, with a crackling burst of electricity, pain ripped Sonic apart, pulling his arms out of his sockets, replacing his blood with molten lava, sending his very nerves on fire, like being electrocuted, immersed in acid and plunged into the sun all at once. He shouted and twisted, jerking uncontrollably, and pain-induced tears streamed down his face, blinded by agony, deafened by his own roars and Amy's laughter-

And then it ended, the tentacle vanishing from around him, allowing Sonic to collapse limply onto the ground, shivering violently, coughing and gasping for breath. Amy was standing over him, crying as well, but these were tears of mirth, so jubilant was she at Sonic's helplessness that she did not suspect a trap...

Shaking violently, Sonic wormed a hand underneath his shuddering torso, reaching for his comlink, disguising his movements as a side-effect from the pain. "Pathetic!" screeched Amy in her demented voice. "I hardly know why I'm bothering to kill you! Get up, Sonic! Fight me! Avenge your friends!"

"I thought I told you to shut _up!" _Sonic roared, leaping to his feet and pointing his comlink directly at Amy's surprised face. "Super Heal!"

Immediately, Amy vanished behind a cocoon of violently purple light, reduced to little more than the faintest shadow. Gasping for breath, Sonic stared intently into the light's depths, wondering if the comlink had enough energy left to separate Illumina's consciousness from Amy's, hoping against hope that the next time she emerged, his friend would be completely herself-

The light dispersed, and with a scream of "ARGH!" Amy flung herself at Sonic, tackling him, another tentacle already spewing out of her mouth, wrapping around him with suffocating firmness. Already incredibly weakened by her previous assault upon him, was powerless to fight her off.

"At last!" crowed Amy, panting excitedly as she yanked him harshly upright, gripping her end of the tentacle so tightly it squeaked. "I will have my revenge! And so you meet your end, Sonic the Hedgehog!"

"_NO!" _came a scream from behind them, one of utmost rage. "I won't let you kill him!" And with that, a concentrated jet of plasmatic blue energy sprinted over Sonic head and slammed into Amy with such force that she was blasted back to the edge of the clearing, her tentacle trailing behind her, slamming with wince-worthy force into an unfortunate tree.

Gasping for breath, Sonic turned to look at his saviour, and was shocked to see Lumina Flowlight hovering before him, an outraged snarl upon her face as she glared at Amy, one hand still outstretched, glowing with energy. Panting slightly, she shifted her gaze to stare at Sonic, her eyes instantly softening, her mouth curving into an apologetic smile.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, her melodious voice sorrowful. "I meant to get here sooner but – _NO!"_

She cut herself off with a horrified scream, and with a graceful twirl she was gone, reappearing instantly beside Amy, who had gotten to her feet and was in the act of hurling her blackened hammer at Sonic, glowing with onyx flames. Lumina appeared in between the weapon and hedgehog, and with surprisingly good reflexes she caught the hammer's head with both hands and flung it back at Amy while conjuring a sword constructed solely of golden light out of thin air. Shrieking in denial, Amy jumped into the air, catching her hammer as she went, and slammed it down upon Lumina's head, a blow that should have flattened her like a pop can, but the Maginaire forced it above her head, blocking it vertically, her face contorted with concentration. For a minute, the two girls stood there, locked together, neither showing any signs of yielding, snarling like wolves, and then Amy kicked Lumina hard in the stomach, sending her spiralling backwards through the air, gasping in pain. The possessed Mobian wasted no time in hurling a massive ball of onyx fire at Sonic, who had regained his energy and threw himself sideways to dodge it, an act that was in vain; Lumina had teleported in front of him, her arms spread wide, and a half-sphere of translucent white energy appeared between them, blasting Amy's attack into non-existence.

"I told you, _no!" _Lumina shouted, and she waved her hands above her head, before bringing them down in a vicious slash, causing an arc of crimson energy blasting towards Amy, who cackled malevolently and raised both hands in front of her face as if to catch an invisible ball, effectively halting Lumina's counterattack several feet in front of her, the arc of light writhing and twisting like crimson flames.

"Foolish of you to join forces with this Mobian, Lumina!" Amy screeched, her yellow eyes flashing ominously. "Only death lies in his future, and it does in yours as well! You cannot hope to beat me, not without supernatural help!"

And with a screech of concentration, Amy turned Lumina's attack back upon her, and despite her translucent shield, it blasted straight through it, flinging the fairy backwards, soaring as limp as a ragdoll fifty feet through the air, crashing through the trees as her unconscious form tumbled to the ground.

Breathing deeply, Amy turned to leer at Sonic, her poisonous eyes growing ever-brighter, flashing with hatred. "No more stalling, hedgehog! Accept your fate! You are truly alone now!"

"He is not alone!" came seven united shouts of defiance, and both Sonic and Amy gasped with surprise as they turned to look for the voices owners, and what Sonic saw made his heart soar.

They were lined up like a battalion of soldiers, the friends who had died fighting Illumina's minions back on the barren plateau outside. Flickering, insubstantial and glowing ghostly green, Cosmo, Tails, Cream, Cheese, Knuckles, Rouge and the real Amy were assembled before him, all glaring at the imposter with absolute hatred upon their faces.

"What the -?" Amy gasped, thrown by the appearance of the ones she thought were gone forever. Then her eyes narrowed with comprehension, and she hissed, "Of course! Lumina!"

"That's right, ugly," Rouge snarled, her fangs bared. "No offence, Amy."

The real Amy was spared having to answer by the appearance of Lumina, who looked battle worn and drained, but defiance still blazed upon her face. Her hands were raised and hovering at waist-level, and, in a voice ringing with force that was most unlike her usual one, she shouted, "Spirits of the light, I ask for a weapon that will banish the hated darkness once and for all!"

Immediately, a mass of sparkling cyan light appeared above her hands, twisting and shrinking before solidifying into a lethal-looking silver laser gun. Lumina's eyes hardened as she tossed it to Sonic, and then, with a wink, she murmured, "I've done all I can. It's in your hands now."

With that, the Maginaire vanished in a flash of white light, but not before she sent a positive tidal wave of black light rocketing towards Amy, which enveloped her shrieking form in its depths, effectively blinding her.

Sonic turned the gun in his hands, marvelling at how something so thin could be so heavy, at how they had never thought to use technology to defeat the goddess before, but he was torn away from his thoughts by Cosmo, who placed a ghostly hand on his shoulder as she murmured, "You've got to load it first, Sonic."

The place where her hand touched him felt like it had been submerged in icy water, and, shivering slightly, Sonic opened his mouth to tell Cosmo that didn't have any ammunition, when six orbs of different coloured light appeared before him, pulsating like hearts, red, black, yellow, blue, creamy white and pink, and, one by one, they surged into the gun's barrel, causing the machine to glow temporarily with the colour corresponding with the orb that had just entered it before the next one came. As the pink orb vanished from sight, Cosmo transformed into a sphere of jade light, gracefully melting into the silver weapon's side. As she vanished inside it, the gun began to vibrate violently in his hands, its barrel glowing with white light. Sonic clutched the grip as tight as he could, grinding his teeth together as the weapon charged at a painstakingly slow pace.

In front of him, Amy had banished Lumina's mass of black light, her face contorted with fury, poisoned eyes glowing like miniature suns, and her white teeth were bared in utmost rage as she glared at Sonic, murder on her face.

"You – infuriating – animal!" she screamed, throwing her head back as she shook with anger. As she lowered her head once more, she pointed a shaking finger at Sonic, features sharp with malediction, and screeched, "I've had enough of this! It's time to die!"

Sonic did not respond at first, for his gun had clicked disproportionately loud to signify that it was loaded, entirely obscuring both itself and his hands in its white glow. Sonic raised his head up to glare disdainfully at Amy, and he snorted, "Time to die? You must be really losing your touch."

Amy screamed, a piercing sound that shook Sonic to the very core, and she slashed her hand through the air, and a dragon constructed purely of onyx light ripped its way into existence, edges curling and foiling like smoke, massive jaw opened wide, unleashing a mass of flame upon him, while Sonic took aim upon Amy's form briefly, closing one eye for accuracy, and squeezed the trigger as hard as he could, throwing his hopes up to the heavens. An explosion of supernova-class proportions sounded from the gun's nozzle, and a gargantuan bird erupted out of the weapon, constructed of rainbow light, and it plunged straight through Amy's dragon as though it was not even there, easily graceful, contrasting sharply with the barrelling mythical beast that it blasted apart in a burst of white light. Amy screamed in terror and jumped out of harm's way, but the bird arced upwards and plunged through her like a devastating bullet.

All the sound seemed to have been sucked out of the room as the light tore through Amy, whose eyes were huge with horror, arms flung backwards, and Sonic could have sworn that the ghostly image of Illumina was flung out of her back-

But then, a deafening explosion roared into existence, bursting out of the place where the ghost of Illumina may or may not have been, and white light consumed their artificial surroundings in less than a second, leaving only Sonic and Amy's no longer blackened corpse behind. Without warning, there was a burst of supersonic sound, and shards of black flames punctured the solid whiteness, while Illumina's disembodied voice screeched, "YOU HAVEN'T SEEN THE LAST OF ME, SONIC THE HEDGEHOG!"

Sonic's muscles tightened, and he fought viciously against his overpowering instinct to run, his heart combating his brain as it sensed that the flames would be harmless. Once again, he proved himself right, for they passed harmlessly through him, no more substantial than air passing by him. Shielding his face in the crook of his arm, he felt Lumina's gun dissolve into nothingness, and at the same time, the forest reformed around him, plunging him into almost-blackness once more. Blinking in the sudden darkness, Sonic lowered his harm, and his eyes instantly focused upon Amy, who was spread eagled upon the ground before him, as unmoving as the dead.

"Amy!" Sonic shouted, dashing to his friend's side, knowing that this time, there was no danger of her attacking him. And though he had been expecting it, she did not respond. Heart hammering painfully in his chest, Sonic ripped his comlink off his wrist with shaking hands, typing in 'Super Heal'. But to his horror, the comlink gave an odd spluttering hiss, acrid smoke issuing out of it, before sending a blast of dark purple light rocketing towards Amy. It enveloped her form like a blanket, and Sonic waited, his hands curled into shaking fists, hoping against hope that he was about to hear Amy's real voice-

The light cleared, revealing Amy once more. "No," Sonic gasped, his eyes widening in horror as he took in his friend's unbreathing form. "No, Amy, no, _no!"_

He took her limp head in his hands, unsure what he was about to do, but at his touch, Amy's form deflated and separated into a thousand little pink rectangles that hovered in a cluster shaped just like the hedgehog, before rocketing upwards like a fleet of daggers, melting through the artificial sky and out of sight. Sonic's hands remained frozen where they were, though his eyes filled with tears, a dull ringing in his ears. Breathing deeply through his nose, Sonic's fingers curled into his palms, and he raised his head up to the sky, shouting, "DAMMIT, I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF THIS GOD – DAMN – _MAGIC!"_

"It's alright," murmured a voice from behind him. "You'll be able to rescue her."

Sonic leapt upright and whirled around so fast that the air hissed. His ragged breathing slowed, however, when he laid eyes upon the speaker. Though the ghostly images of Tails, Cream, Cheese, Rouge, Knuckles and Amy had vanished, Cosmo remained, assuming the form she had before shattering the Precious Stone, her bright blue eyes wide with remorse, thin lips trembling slightly as she smiled empathetically at him.

"C-Cosmo?" Sonic stammered, taking a startled step backwards. "But I...you...?"

The Seedrian did not answer his half-formed question. Clasping her hands over her glowing red amulet, she closed her eyes, and a current of jade light passed over her flickering form, causing the flowers that had bloomed atop her head to close and shrink, her hair to shoot back into her skull and darken until it formed an emerald curtain that hung to her shoulders. The Seedrian's form seemed to ripple, and suddenly, she was solid, floating slowly down to the ground, her dress inflating around her like a parachute, eyes still closed. Sonic was transfixed as he watched his dead friend alight upon the grass before him, and her bright blue eyes opened slowly to stare at him with bright interest.

"Hello, Sonic," she said in her soft voice, smiling at the sight of him. "That was a bit too close for anyone's comfort, don't you think?"

Sonic swallowed hard, shaking his head as if to rid himself from a dream, unable to tear his gaze away from Cosmo. After several seconds, he found his voice, which was weak and cracked, and he muttered pathetically, "Yeah."

Cosmo blinked at him, and then her smile stretched wider across her face, happy tears sliding down her pale cheeks. "Oh, Sonic, I'm just so glad you're okay!" she gushed, in a rare display of emotion, and she darted forwards, hugging him tightly. Still feeling slightly shell-shocked at his abrupt transition from mortal peril to this unexpected reunion, Sonic patted the Seedrian on the shoulder, trying to gather his thoughts.

_Illumina's gone, _was all he was able to grasp at first, and he knew that, under different circumstances, the realization would have been a cause for jubilation. _Gone, not dead. That means we'll be seeing each other again very soon...what a cheery reunion that'll be...Why'd Lumina help me, though? Last time I checked, she was on that maniac's side. _For a moment, the incentive evaded his grasp in the bowels of his mind, but he managed to drag it forwards, eyes narrowing slightly. _I guess she's pretty pissed off at being sacrificed, even if it was by her boss. I'd be, anyway..._

But whether he would forgive Lumina for her betrayal, the mysterious reappearance of Cosmo and the complex that was Amy's vanishing were all mysteries that he could not even begin to comprehend, and, still weak from Illumina's torturing, he knew that it would be a long time before he was ready to search for the answers. He probably would have stood there for hours, wrestling with the unknown, but Cosmo yanked him back to reality by her hand clenching upon his wrist, while she pointed frantically at something over his shoulder. Sonic released the Seedrian and spun around, expecting the rebirth of Illumina, the reappearance of Doom and his siblings, but all he saw was Amy's comlink, lying in a mangled heap of blackened, smoking metal. Clearly, after fighting off Maginaires, conjuring up invisibility fields, extensive healings and not to mention everything it had been through back in Maginaryworld had been too much for it to handle, attempting to heal Amy having been its final act.

"Oh," Sonic said, his face splitting into a relieved smile as he turned back to Cosmo. "Nah, that was bound to happen anyways, I didn't really get the hang of –"

"Not that," Cosmo squeaked, sounding terrified as she spun him around, pointing at the thing of which she was so horrified. _"That."_

Sonic spun around, and his heart flew into his throat, causing him to choke in surprise. A silver machine two meters long and half as wide stood before them, dedicated mostly to a black electronic screen with neon green pixelated numbers bearing the time '1:30'. Strapped to either side were thick bunches of red dynamite, and even as he watched, the numbers had begun to tick down...

"Shit," he hissed, taking an automatic step back. "How'd that get there?"

"It's a bomb!" cried Cosmo, panic clawing at her voice as she turned to stare at him with huge eyes. "What do we do?"

Sonic mentally listed his options; they could stay here and try to diffuse the bomb, in which case their chances of survival were less than zero, for he had no idea how to diffuse it and, even if he had, Illumina would have made sure it was incredibly complex and impossible to dismantle in just over two minutes. Or they could try to run away as fast as they could, which gave them slightly better chances of living to see the next dawn than the latter option. But only slightly.

_Bitter bitch! _Sonic cursed, but out loud, he hissed, "Get on!" He turned and bent over, and Cosmo leapt nimbly onto his back, surprisingly light, her hands clutching his shoulders like a drowning person does a life raft, and in a sense, he was. All this took place in less than three seconds, but seconds seemed a hell of a lot more precious when a bomb was counting them down.

With a supersonic boom, Sonic launched himself forwards, shooting like a bullet from a gun through the trees, weaving in and out of the path of stubbornly immobile plants so fast that his vision blurred around the edges, while his brain rocked back and forth in his skull. Eyes narrowed against the thrashing limbs of the trees, Sonic forced his legs to move faster, hoping against hope that Illumina had not thought to seal their only chance of survival, that he would be able to carry them to the place he knew Eggman's garage to be, while ticking down the number of seconds they had left to get out.

_Ninety-nine, ninety-eight..._

But his worries were pointless; in less than five seconds Sonic had made it through the gap in the cold silver walls, mercifully-mist free, and unceremoniously barrelled through the armada of vehicles in his haste to reach the motorcycles. Normally, he wouldn't have bothered, but he knew he would not be able to keep up his current pace long enough for them to reach the exit, weakened as he was by Illumina's brutal assault upon him, and so he may have smashed the wings off of several planes and dented more than one car in his haste to reach the motorcycles. He flung himself onto a jet black bike, pulling the helmet that hung on one of its handle bars over his head while tossing one from an adjacent motorcycle to Cosmo.

"Hold on tight!" he warned her, slamming his foot against the kickstand, fingers wrapping around the handlebars. Cosmo slid off of his back and onto the soft gel seat beneath them, pausing for only an infinitesimal amount of a second before wrapping her slim arms around his waist.

Whether it was from stress or madness Sonic did not know, but a grudging smile speared on his lips as he imagined Amy's expression if she could have seen the position Cosmo was in right now. But that image was blasted out of his head as his helmet beeped to life, and he shouted, "MAX SPEED!" as loudly as he could, lifting his feet off the ground, and not a moment too soon; roaring like a jungle cat, the machine reared back on its hind wheel before blasting forwards, faster than sound could catch it, an onyx streak against the futuristic walls. Cosmo was shaking violently, whimpering in terror as her arms tightened around his waist, desperately clutching onto the one thing that separated her from life and death. Sonic bent low over the dashboard, his eyes narrowing to slits, teeth bared in a furious snarl as he muttered, "C'mon, c'mon, you hunka junk! We've got a clock to beat!"

_Forty...thirty-nine..._

"Maximum speed reached," retorted a cool female voice, a tad indignantly, and Sonic swore violently, already regretting deciding against making a run for it. He took his frustration out on the handlebars, strangling them, imagining that they were the neck of the woman he hated so much, the goddess who would succeed in bringing about their deaths even when she had been defeated. He had not come this far, not witnessed the death of each of his friends or attacked the body of the girl who loved him to suffer defeat borne out of a malicious woman's refusal to admit defeat-

They reached the bottom of the ramp that lead to the exit of the garage with twenty seconds to go, and Sonic thought back to the time it had taken to clear the incline on the previous journey, his stomach sinking as he realized that it had taken at least twice the amount of time they had left.

_Six..._

_All this because I had to accidentally trigger that alarm, _Sonic thought violently, anger clawing its way up his throat.

_Five..._

_I'm sorry you guys had to die the way he did, _he thought, remorse sweeping through him as he pictured Tails, Cream, Cheese, Knuckles and Rouge's faces, the expressions they had been wearing before the white light had seized his consciousness.

_Four..._

_If it's worth anything, Lumina, I'm glad you came over to the right side. At least I got to see Cosmo before..._

_Three..._

_You really are a bitch, Illumina._

_Two..._

_Amy saved me. She saved me from Eggman's stupid little cell. How come I couldn't save her?_

_One..._

_I can't believe it. I'm about to die._

Zero.

An ear-splitting explosion sounded from what seemed to be light years away, roaring into existence with impossible force. Sonic felt airbags inflating in his helmet, protecting his ears from the wave of sound that was rocketing towards them, though he knew there were much worse things coming. A blast of heat hit him squarely in the back, clawing at his quills like a sentient beast. He heard Cosmo screaming, smelt burning fur and singed material, and out of the corner of his eye, he saw a mass of coiling flames sprinting towards them, reflected by his rear-view mirror. Jagged plumes of amber death lashed out like eagle talons, desperate to claim the lives of the two desperately speeding away from them, but the heat, which was almost unbearable, was acting against it, so powerful was it that it actually lifted the motorcycle up off the ground, ferrying it forwards on a solid cushion of air, while an invisible hand of raw force pushed them forwards-

And then they were clear, soaring through the afternoon sky as if on a winged horse, and for a moment, time stretched to breaking point, Sonic felt G-force lifting him up out of his seat while simultaneously trying to force him back down to earth, Cosmo was sobbing uncontrollably, the motorcycle's wheels were turning uselessly, while the outraged roar of the explosion continued to drown every other noise out-

But as time snapped back to normal like an elastic band, Sonic knew they were clear; the explosion seemed to have been contained inside Eggman's base, for the plumes of flame that were clawing after them were growing smaller and smaller as they rocketed through the air. They landed on the ground with bone-crushing force; Sonic's mouth was slammed shut, his bones rattled violently in their sockets, and the vehicle bounced a full three feet in the air before continuing to sprint forwards. Sonic ground his teeth together as they tore across the bumpy forest floor, steering around trees and occasionally tearing straight through bushes, sometimes becoming airborne once more as they tore over well-concealed lumps in the ground, and every time they did so, he thought that they would be thrown over the handlebars like a cowpokes off their mount-

"Oh no, oh no, don't crash!" Cosmo was whispering over and over in mortification, clearly having no trust in his driving ability.

Sonic rolled his eyes, swerving to avoid impalement by a tree. _Are all girls like this? _he wondered idly, and at that moment, the overwhelming enormity of what had just happened struck him like a punch to the face.

They were alive.

Illumina drummed her fingers upon the golden armrest of her throne, her gaze upon it so intense that she might have been hoping to burn a hole in it. She would have been pacing, but she couldn't summon the strength to do so; had her plan worked? Had Sonic the Hedgehog met his downfall in modern technology?

_There is nothing to do but wait, _she told herself, a thought that made her stomach squirm in anticipation. _Epona will return soon enough._

She thought this to combat the waves of outrage that were pummelling her mind like a tsunami-ravaged country; she had been defeated, _again, _a triumph born out of pure luck and mistakes on her part, coupled with – she could hardly bare to admit it – the unexpected appearance of ones she thought she had killed.

_I should have foreseen this, _Illumina thought, her nails digging into the wrought armrest of her throne. _I was foolish not to expect Lumina to attempt to get revenge upon me. After all, she _is _a creature of Light Maginaryworld, I should have known better than to use her in my plan...No matter. Once Epona returns I can deal with that meddlesome fool, as I did with her brother._

"My lady?"

Illumina looked up sharply, smothering her excitement beneath a mask of cold indifference. Before her hovered a thin Maginaire that came up only to her waist, a strangely cat-like quality about her, clothed in a flowing silver dress, grey-skinned, with a mane of tangled, seaweed green hair that fell elegantly into her face, concealing eyes that she had never looked into. It was, of course, Epona, her scout and messenger and, as much as she hated to admit it, an infallible asset to her ranks.

"Ah, Epona," Illumina murmured, her voice like shards of ice as she stood up in with graceful swiftness. "You're late; I hope you're here with good news?"

Epona's thin lips twisted into a smile, something that the goddess found infuriating. "I apologize, my lady," the Maginaire murmured in her low purr of a voice, though it was plain that she did not wish Illumina any such thing. "But I had to be sure of what I had seen before reporting back to you. I know that my lady expects nothing but utmost accuracy from my reports."

"Yes, that's all very fine," Illumina snapped, and Epona's smirk broadened. "But I don't have time to listen to how well you've memorized my expectations of you; what did you find?"

Excitement began to buzz through her veins like a fast acting poison, and Illumina was unable to keep the eagerness from her face as she stared at Epona, dark eyes boring into the place the Maginaire's should have been. Epona inclined her head in a slight bow, and she murmured, "Of course, my lady, the reports. I travelled to that base of the human Robotnik's, as you requested; it was in total ruins, I'll have you know. Fire everywhere, not so much as a sign of a body."

She paused, her smile deepening as she took in Illumina's expression, which had gone from transported with glee to as stony as the walls around them. Her heart, so recently pounding with excitement, stopped dead at her messenger's words, then burst into a terrified sprint, a cold sweat seeping down her face.

_How could he still be alive? _she demanded of herself, barely managing to keep the panic from her face. _No one, not even him, could have escaped the mortal's base in two minutes, I calculated it..._

As if she were in tune with her mistress' thoughts, Epona continued, her sleek voice mocking remorse. "I scoured every inch of that room, my lady, not to mention the vehicle hangar; no bodies, no ashes, not a trace of life in sight. The hedgehog must have had external help, for I scoured the forest too, and there was not a trace of him in sight."

"Impossible," Illumina muttered, rage filling her up like a hot water bottle, then draining out of her, only to be replaced by utmost terror. "His friends are dead, Epona, I saw them go down with my own eyes...very well," she began to pace back and forth, circling her ornate golden throne, glaring at the stone altar on which she stood. "I knew that, no matter how slim, there was a chance that the hedgehog would escape...and if Lumina has indeed joined forces with him, there's a possibility that she has found a way to bring his friends back to life as well..."

As a plan began to formulate itself in her mind, Epona raised her thin, slanting eyebrows, not that Illumina could see them.

"My lady," questioned the Maginaire, her tone mocking inquirement. "What are your orders?"


	22. Different Warriors, Common Goals

Void stood motionless, leaning back against his cold cell wall, twirling a small gold coin, causing it to weave through his slim fingers, apparently on its own. The rage that had consumed him at his imprisonment had long since faded to a dull, roaring flame at the back of his mind, weak enough to have enabled him to concentrate on other things, strong enough to remind him of its presence.

_Soon, _he told himself, willing patience upon him. _Soon._

And at that exact moment, a burst of silver light ripped its way into existence, vanishing almost as soon as it had appeared, leaving a Maginaire in its place. The only Maginaire that mattered right now, to be exact.

She stared at Void for a moment, with eyes that Void had never looked into, and a satisfied smile played about her thin lips as she took in his form. "Epona!" Void greeted her, shoving himself off of the wall, closing his fist upon the coin. "Good news, I trust?"

"The best," Epona whispered her feline voice a self-satisfied purr. "Illumina's plan is exactly as you speculated it would be; she intends to travel to Mobius and hunt down the worthless hedgehog she is so obsessed with, as well as his friends."

Void raised a thin eyebrow. _"All _his friends?"

Epona's smile widened, revealing glittering white teeth. "Of course not. You knew she would leave one out."

Void's eyes flashed in enjoyment, emanating smugness. "And she intends for you to accompany her, does she not?" he pressed on, staring intently into Epona's concealed eyes. The Maginaire nodded wordlessly, and a slightly hungry quality appeared about her face. Void, sensing her mood, quickly deflected any thoughts that may have been brewing inside her head with an urgent murmur of, "Epona, you know that Illumina must trust you until the very last moment; it is crucial to my freedom. To Maginaryworld's freedom."

Epona nodded again, the hunger in her grey face growing even more pronounced, and she drifted forwards, hovering above the ground, leaning forwards, her lips slightly parted. "You will be free, Void," she whispered, with utmost determination.

Void laughed bitterly, casting his slanting amethyst-sapphire eyes downwards, staring at the floor as if bidden to memorize its uninteresting square pattern. "I hope so. Maginaryworld cannot afford to have Illumina as leader for much longer. And if our plan succeeds –as it undoubtedly will - we will be free of that fool forever, my sweet. You and I shall claim the power of the sun and the moon, and together, we will destroy that cursed Mobius and rule Maginaryworld!"

He looked up, only to see that Epona had vanished, leaving only glittering dust in her wake. _Strange girl, _Void thought, leaning back against the wall and resuming to weave his golden coin between his fingers. Still, he was not unduly troubled by Epona's mysterious demeanour; in fact, that was probably the only thing that stood between him and a lifetime of imprisonment.

Abruptly, Void tossed the coin high into the air, snatching it as it began its descent and placing it upon the back of his free hand. He slowly removed the hand covering the sign, and was amused to see that it was facing skull side-up, a skeletal face open in a scream of utmost terror. Danger was afoot.

The corners of his mouth twitched as Void stared unblinkingly at the sign. "More than anyone knows,"he muttered, closing his fist.

Sonic stared at the pictures that lined Tails' hallway's wall, his sense of longing increasing by tenfold as he examined the moments in time the fox had managed to capture. Almost every friend he had lost back on the magical plateau outside of Eggman's workshop had a place of honour upon the wall, and now he was facing the daunting – and very possible – prospect of only being able to see these friends in these pictures.

Cosmo had told him the exact same story that she had told the others in their encounter on the Tornado 2.0, up to and including where Lumina had revealed the depths of her remorse and her good intentions and blasted his dead friends back to Mobius. She had explained the enormity of their mission, and had even included that it was very possible for Illumina's life to only be extinguished when his own flame went out.

But the thought of his possible death was a distant, whispering worry in the back of Sonic's mind when he compared the thought of living on Mobius without those he had lost less than one day ago, all struck down with impossible speed. Tails, Knuckles, Rouge, Cream, Cheese and Amy, the latter's absence possibly the most significant one to him.

To his horror, he found that Amy's death had opened up a door that led to nothing but thoughts of her, flooding his mind at the most inappropriate of times. He could not bear to think of all the adventures and misadventures they had gone through together, especially not those that had occurred in the past month, and so this forced him to keep a tight seal upon what he thought of as the Amy door, cutting off all thoughts of her except for the knowledge that she was dead, and only he and Cosmo had the power to save her.

This thought brought him back to the present, and he realized that he had led Cosmo into Tails' garage. The Seedrian's bright blue eyes were alight with wonder as she stared about the vast, empty room, apparently enthralled. "This is where Tails did his work?" she breathed, taking in the countless blueprints pinned upon the metallic blue walls.

"Yep," Sonic said, slightly impatient at the wonder in Cosmo's voice, annoyed that she showed more signs of wanting to examine the garage than looking for what they had initially come for.

"Amazing," Cosmo breathed softly, and Sonic only just managed to keep himself from rolling his eyes; even Tails' bathroom had been pronounced 'exemplary'.

"It'd look a lot better if the Tornado was here," Sonic told her, a slight snap in his voice, lamenting the fact that the plane had been destroyed when Cream and Cheese had shot it down while Tails and Amy attempted to rescue him. "C'mon, there's nothing here that would help us find the others, anyway."

Sonic turned and lead Cosmo down a set of wooden stairs, leading to an underground laboratory. If it was up to him, they would have already come and gone from the workshop hours ago, but Cosmo had insisted that that ate and slept before setting out to find the others.

"Lumina told me they're perfectly safe," she had argued, eyes bright with determination. "The safest in the universe. There's no way Illumina's going to be able to do anything with them."

_I'm not so sure, _Sonic had thought, but grudgingly gave in. But now that they were well-rested and reasonably fed, he was determined to make sure they did not waste a second on touring his friend's home.

Tails' laboratory was a metallic blue, low-ceilinged room, a chaotic maze of stainless steel lab tables covered with calculation papers, sketches, tools and various gadgets, some not even completed. The far wall was dedicated to metal shelves; one housed safety gloves and goggles and such, the next spare tools, the third dedicated solely to test tubes filled with brightly coloured, hissing, bubbling mixtures, and the fourth-

"Perfect," Sonic hissed, easily navigating his way through the room and in less than three seconds he was standing before the forth shelf, his arms full of comlinks. Praying that they were operational, he tossed one to Cosmo, who barely caught hers, her bright blue eyes widening in wonder.

Turning away, Sonic flipped open one of the comlinks and tapped a button experimentally, a grin flashing across his face as a mass of glittering green numbers that had no significance to him flashed across the screen. He snapped the mini-computer shut and was about to return the others to their shelves when Cosmo spoke.

"It's always good to have spares," the Seedrian pointed out, and Sonic turned to face her, nodding in agreement. "I can hold on to them, if you'd like."

"Oh...yeah, sure," Sonic said, handing his armful of technology to Cosmo while slapping his own onto his wrist. While Cosmo stuffed the comlinks into a concealed pocket, Sonic let his eyes rove about the room, and they instantly settled upon a relatively mess-free table, where rainbow-coloured light was emanating out from seven objects-

Heart pounding in his ears, Sonic darted through the maze of tables, excitement racing through his veins, and his heart sank slightly as he realized that he was not looking at the seven Chaos Emeralds; upon the table were miniature, incredibly realistic fakes, the colours exactly the same as the real ones, glowing just as brightly as the true Emeralds. Sonic spotted a neat, handwritten label beneath the pile, which read, _'Power Tablets: Increases energy for half-hour. DO NOT TAKE TWO IN LESS THAN FIVE MINUTES.'_

_These could come in handy, _Sonic thought, a smile flicking across his face, marred slightly as he lamented that the actual Chaos Emeralds would be a hundred times more useful. But at the moment, they needed every advantage they could get.

"What are those?" Cosmo asked, in the polite voice that one on a mildly interesting field trip would use to ask about a strange plant. Sonic winked at her. "Power tablets, according to Tails." he answered, depositing the fake Chaos Emeralds into Cosmo's outstretched hands. "Could be useful, eh?"

Cosmo nodded wordlessly, depositing the fake Emeralds inside her seemingly bottomless pocket, then opened her comlink. For a moment, she merely stared at it blankly, then raised her head up to look questioningly at Sonic, apparently bewildered.

"How will these help us find them, again?" she asked, and Sonic couldn't help but laugh. Flipping open his own comlink, he tapped on it for a moment, opening up the energy scanner, then looked up, staring hopefully at Cosmo, who, seeming to read his mind, suggested, "Try 'magical'."

Sonic punched in the word, but to his frustration, nothing popped up. _Typical Tails, wouldn't want something as stupid as 'magic' to show up on his scanner. _Smothering his anger, Sonic tried in 'Unknown' but to his even greater annoyance, the entire pixelated screen became a mass of bright reds, oranges, yellows, greens and blues.

"Dammit," he cursed, looking up at Cosmo, who chewed her lip for a moment, deep in thought, then snapped her fingers, eyes widening in comprehension as she cried, "Maginaryworld!"

Sonic stared blankly at her for a moment, then, as though an electric current had run through in, pummelled in the name of the dream world, emitting a satisfied hiss as the chaotic jumble of colours upon the screen reduced to six blinking orange dots, accompanied by a dark purple one Sonic took to mean as their location, all pulsating slightly, all scattered throughout Mobius, though placed relatively close together. Cosmo, who had leaned forwards for a closer look, frowned and asked, "Can you make it any bigger?"

Before Sonic could answer, the comlink, as though capable of understanding Cosmo's inquiry, bleeped softly, and then a large holograph burst out of a tiny project, for a moment no more distinguishable than a matrix of bright green lasers, and then they twisted around to form a glowing, flickering model of a quarter of Mobius, the orange dots enlarged so they could see them more clearly.

"Wow," Cosmo murmured, sounding amazed, but to Sonic, who was accustomed to Tails genius, regarded the holograph only as one of his more useful inventions. His bright green eyes roved over the map, pupils dilating as he realized that one of the unmarked orange dots marked Amy's place. But he knew that he had no way of knowing which one it was, and so he turned to Cosmo, raising his eyebrows at her.

"Which one should we go to first?" he asked, and Cosmo tore her eyes away from the holograph to stare at him through the blitz of lines.

"There's a path we can follow that will take us through every dot," she murmured, reaching forwards and actually putting her hand into the illusion, bathing her hand in green light as she moved it slowly along a course, travelling from the dot closest to Tails' workshop to the one farthest away.

Sonic stared at the dot closest to them, narrowing his eyes as he strained to think of where the location was, and why it seemed so familiar to him. Shaking his head slowly, he pressed the button that had conjured up the scanner, and the holograph vanished. Unclasping the comlink from around his wrist, he tossed it casually to Cosmo, who caught it by the tips of her fingers, looking confused, an expression he was rapidly coming to associate with her face.

"I'll run, you tell me where we're going," Sonic told her, winking roguishly, and before the Seedrian could speak, he had slung her onto his back in piggyback position and had sprinted up the wooden stairs that led to the upper floor of Tails' workshop, easily clearing the house and bursting out into open air, a gratified smile spreading across his face as he took a deep breath of fresh, night time air, speed-induced winds clawing at his face. Cosmo whimpered in panic and flung her arms around his neck, clutching on for dear life, and Sonic slowed his pace to a jog, calling, "Where to, Cosmo?"

"Um," the Seedrian paused, checking the comlink. "Due west, Sonic, straight towards those mountains." Sonic looked at where she was pointing, and a feeling of recognition swept through him as he took in the mysterious green glow emanating from halfway up the closest mountain, unnatural, eternal.

_Angel Island, _he thought, and Knuckles' face flashed through his mind. _Pretty smart of Lumina to put someone there._

"Hold on tight, Cosmo," Sonic grunted, and he launched himself forwards with a sonic boom, flying across the dark, rolling green hills of Mystic Valley, his eyes fixed upon the place he knew Angel Island to be. Every thought, every worry was left behind at Tails' workshop, for while he was running, the only real thing in the world was the howl of the wind, the feel of air against his face, and he was certain that nothing could touch him as long as he kept running, which he could forever.

In less than ten minutes, they were standing about two hundred yards away from the base of the closest mountain, and hundreds of feet above them hovered Angel Island, its dark jade glow much more pronounced now, its jagged, rocky surface filing to a point that dangled above them like a stone dagger. Dozens of thick, knotted ropes hung down from over the edge of the rock face, dangling from invisible poles, swaying slightly in the faint wind. Sonic hurtled to a fluent stop, and Cosmo slid off his back, landing numbly on the ground beneath her.

Sonic turned to look at his friend, and saw, to both his pity and amusement, that fear was etched upon her face, bright blue eyes like glassy orbs, haunted with terror. "How are we supposed to get up there?" she asked, her voice a hoarse whisper. Sonic flashed a wink at her and caught the rope nearest him with one hand, tossing it towards her.

"All you gotta do is hold on tight," he told her, withdrawing his hand and backing up to stand beside another rope. Cosmo reached up both trembling hands and grasped the knotted extension, emitting a shriek of surprise as, quite abruptly, the rope was wrenched upwards, hoisting her into the air. Laughing silently, Sonic grabbed the rope beside him, and felt as though he had left his stomach on the ground below as he was yanked into the air, filling its hollow space with exhilaration. He turned his head and saw that Cosmo had drawn her knees up to her chest, eyes clamped shut, mouth moving silently, evidently praying that the rope would not break.

Sonic rolled his eyes, wondering briefly if all girls were as scared of extreme sport as she was, but then his mind shifted towards the task at hand. They were rapidly approaching one of the six of his friends who had died for him back on the enchanted plain, and he suspected that it would be Knuckles. And though he was perhaps looking more forward to that reunion than most of the others, he could not help but know, deep in his heart, that he would not rest easy until he had seen Amy alive and scheming with his own eyes.

He would have continued on this train of thought, but Sonic was yanked back into awareness in the form of his rope coming to a resounding halt. Eyes sliding back into focus, he saw that the edge of Angel Island hovered before him, and, with a grunt of effort, he scampered up the remaining distance between him and solid ground, clawing himself into upright position. Cosmo was already there, lying face down, her whole form trembling with shock, and as she forced herself to her feet, she muttered, "Never again...that was the most terrifying...most ludicrous..."

_Wait until you see how we need to get down, _Sonic thought with a grin, darting forwards and helping the Seedrian to her feet. She smiled shakily at him, brushing dirt of her dress, then seemed to come to herself and checked her comlink. "Dead ahead," she informed him, pointing towards the thick mass of evergreen trees before them. Sonic followed her finger and saw, not to his surprise, that she was pointing at the place where an ancient stone ruin had been erected, an almost blinding jade glow emanating from the emerald balanced precariously atop it.

_Guess it reformed itself, _Sonic thought, remembering how, an eternity ago, Chaos had shattered the Master Emerald in order to get the Chaos Emerald inside it. Exchanging a wordless nod with Cosmo, he sprinted forwards, navigating easily through the trees, his gaze fixed upon the place where the jade glow was emanating from. Cosmo hurried along in his wake, her breath coming in laboured bursts, the glow from her amulet lighting the path before them. After several minutes, the foliage began to thin, and the pair ran out onto a leaf-strewn circular clearing that surrounded the ancient ruin. Seven stone pillars, weathered through the ages, had been erected in a circle around the main ruin, and Sonic knew that, millennia ago, the seven Chaos Emeralds had sat atop them. But at that moment, he didn't particularly care about the ruin's history; all he knew was that one of his friends was imprisoned above him, and the only thing that separated him from the friend who could very well be Amy was a hundred stone steps. Eyes narrowing, he threw himself forwards, Cosmo sprinting behind him, and raced up the steps, taking them two at a time, his eagerness to see who was waiting for them driving him forwards, propelling him faster than he had gone in days, and the only sound was the excited pounding of his heart in his ears-

As he clambered over the top step, several things became apparent at once; most obviously was that the Master Emerald had not, in fact, reformed itself. In reality, the shards of the jade jewel were strewn about the center of the circular altar, glowing dully, jagged fragments strewn about the base of the large, translucent crystal that had been erected, and hundreds on smaller ones were strewn around its base. It was glowing a bright, sparkling purple, and it occurred to Sonic that Lumina, displaying remarkable attention to detail, had cast an illusion of the Master Emerald about Angel Island, so as to conceal the fact that she had imprisoned someone in a crystal in its place.

But – he hated himself for admitting it – he was slightly disappointed to find that the occupant of the crystal was not Amy. It wasn't even Knuckles. Rouge was standing upright inside it, forehead pressed against the crystal's face, her painted pink lips slightly parted. Her hands were limp at her sides, and for once, eyes closed, and for once, her custom wariness had been replaced by a peaceful, tranquil expression.

_I'd love to see what Knuckles thinks of all this, _Sonic thought in amusement, imagining the look on the echidna's face if he could have seen what had become of his precious emerald. But there was something else he had noticed upon arriving at the top of the ruin, and he sensed that Cosmo, who had puffed to a stop behind him, had sensed it too. Though there was nothing visibly different about the stone structure, he sensed that something had changed since his last visit here. The forest surrounding them was eerily quiet, incredibly so for a summer's night, and there was a certain malicious electricity in the air that caused his quills to stand on end. Someone invisible was watching them.

"It's quiet," Cosmo breathed her accented voice sharp with alertness.

"At the risk of sounding clichéd, too quiet," Sonic agreed, nodding slowly, while his bright green eyes roved about, searching for a danger that he could not find. But he knew that if the person he suspected behind the malicious presence was indeed nearby, they were intelligent enough to remain hidden until they felt that the moment was right. He knew not whether Rouge's crystal had been booby trapped, and considered briefly all the things that could go wrong if he took a step towards the crystal.

Beside him, Cosmo drew a resolved breath and took a hesitant step forwards, but Sonic, having years of experience with decisions Amy had made that were similar to these, threw out an arm to stop her. Cosmo turned her head to stare at him inquiringly, and he growled, "Are you crazy? We can't go over there!"

Cosmo stared at him silently for a moment, then, in a slow, hesitant voice, said, "That's alright. You stay here, and I'll go free Rouge. That way, if it's trapped, I'll be the only one caught, and you'll be able to escape."

It took Sonic a moment to see past her deceptively solemn eyes to the humour that was twinkling in them. "Oh, ha-ha," he said sarcastically, and Cosmo's face split into a smile. "I'm coming with you, Cosmo; let's do this."

The gravity of the situation set in upon them at his words, and, as silent as shadows, Sonic and Cosmo stepped forwards, making sure to muffle the sounds of their footsteps. At a snail's pace, they crept forwards, eyes darting about in search of danger, both ready to move at a second's notice if an attacker was to leap out at them, but, to Sonic's mingling relief and uneasiness, they reached the crystal without incident.

For a split second, Sonic was transfixed, noticing that they crystal had a certain beauty about it, his head level with Rouge's stomach, but after this second of wonderment, he tore his eyes away from the crystal to look at Cosmo, who was looking fearfully at him.

"On three?" Sonic asked, and Cosmo swallowed, but nodded her head in determination. "Okay," he breathed, raising one hand to hover just before the crystal's surface, its warm glow caressing him.

"One, two, _three!" _Cosmo whispered, and, as one, they reached out and touched the smooth surface. As soon as his gloved fingertips brushed against it, a white fog assaulted his vision, and Sonic's mind was seized by the image of Lumina, hovering against a swirling white background, her bright blue eyes wide with urgency.

"Before you can rescue Rouge," the Maginaire murmured, clearly having no time to exchange greetings. "You must pass a test to prove that you are worthy of it. Do you accept this challenge?"

_A challenge? _Sonic thought to himself, unable to believe his ears. _Are you serious? Is there anyone _more _worthy of freeing her? _But out loud, pausing for only a fraction of a second, he said, "Of course."

Lumina smiled slightly, but then was serious once more. Clasping one hand over her amulet, she launched into speech, and Sonic had to strain his ears to catch every word. "To free her, you must prove that you are able to make the right decisions, no matter how desperate the situation.

"These cups contain water, vinegar, poison, and a potion that will render you invincible," As she listed the liquids, she waved her hand almost absently through the air, and chalices appeared before her, gold, silver, bronze and lead. "You must choose the ones you would drink yourself, and the one you would give your mortal enemy, when both of you are faced with a slow and painful death. You have two minutes to pick. Should you choose the wrong one, Rouge will be imprisoned inside this crystal forever. Delay too long, and both you and she will die."

Sonic was stunned for a moment, staring uncomprehendingly up at the Maginaire, mouth slightly open as he faced the momentous task before him. _Is she serious? _Sonic thought, completely bewildered. To him, the challenge sounded more like a riddle than anything else, and solving riddles was Tails' forte, not his. Throw in the prospect of his and Rouge's deaths if he did not answer quickly and correctly, and the task was pretty much impossible.

"Time starts...now," Lumina announced, without a trace of sympathy in her voice, and Sonic's mind immediately snapped onto the task at hand.

_Okay, so, there's water, vinegar, poison and an invincibility potion, _he thought, trying not to think of the clock that was ticking his time supply down to zero. _Which would I drink when faced with a painful death? Is she kidding me? The invincibility potion, of course. And as for my worst enemy? _He pictured Illumina's beatific face. _Poison. Absolutely poison._

But as he opened his mouth to speak, a voice in his head spoke up, a cautioning, almost lazy voice. _Are you sure about that? _it asked, and annoyance flickered through Sonic as he responded, _Of course I'm sure. I don't want to die!_

_But doesn't it make you as bad as Illumina, if you leave her to die, while you drink the invincibility potion? _the voice argued, irritatingly smug. Sonic was distracted from fuming at how ludicrous the entire situation was by the voice's words, and he knew immediately that it was right.

_Fine, then, Illumina can have the invincibility, I'll take the poison, _he snapped, opening his mouth to speak, but, to his increasing annoyance, the voice spoke up again.

_That would make you a coward, you know, _it pointed out. _Taking the easy way out. And do you really think Illumina deserves invincibility, after all she's done?_

Sonic closed his eyes and counted to ten, praying for patience, and during this brief period, he realized that, once again, this voice was right; no matter what his own opinions were, every life was as valuable as the next, and if he put his before Illumina's, no matter how despicable she was, he would be sinking to her level. Besides, giving her poison would mean she would get to take the easy way out.

_Okay, _Sonic thought, panic starting to settle in; how much time did he have left? _What if...what if I took the water, and she can take the vinegar. That way we both die, but she gets a bit more pain before it happens._

"I'd take the water," Sonic announced, his voice shaking with anticipation. "And Illu- I mean, my enemy would take the vinegar."

For a moment, Lumina merely stared at him, and – was he just imagining it? – disappointment flashed across her face, and Sonic felt his heart sink down to his stomach; he was too late. Rouge would never be free.

But then, the Maginaire's face split into a smile, and, with a relieved laugh, Lumina clapped her hands together in delight. "Correct," she cried, and with that, Sonic's mind cleared, and his eyes snapped open, so that he found himself standing on Angel Island once more. Reeling slightly, he staggered backwards, and he suddenly became aware that Cosmo's hands were clutching his wrists.

"Thank the gods," the Seedrian breathed, and Sonic looked round in alarm, focusing upon his friend with some difficultly. Her face was round with anxiety, her eyes huge and fearful, but when she saw that he was okay, all the tension drained out of her profile. "I thought...I thought you weren't going to-"

But she cut herself off with a gasp of surprise, for out of the corner of his eye, Sonic saw that the crystal around Rouge was becoming less and less solid, the little crystals at its base fading into non-existence. Sonic stared at Rouge in wonder, and his heart pounded loudly in his ears as the crystal faded out of view entirely, leaving the bat hovering unsupported in mid-air. Suddenly, Cosmo reeled backwards, crying out in surprise, and an orb of pulsating onyx energy melted out of her amulet, drifting lazily towards Rouge, bathing its owner in its dark glow.

_Her soul, _Sonic realized, but analytical thought was quickly driven from his mind as the orb melted into Rouge's chest. The bat's form shuddered, and she took in a huge, shuddering gasp, her whole form heaving with the intake of breath. A white current ran down her form, and as it disappeared from her white-booted feet, her earthy brown eyes fluttered open, wide with bewilderment.

"What the -?" she murmured, but that was as far as she got, for she promptly fell out of the air. Instinctively, Sonic darted forwards and caught her, bridal-style. Rouge gave an "Oof!" of surprise, then she seemed to come to herself, her eyes narrowing in suspicious as her head snapped around to stare at Sonic, her accusatory glare transforming into one of incredulity, which instantly morphed into a teasing grin.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, Sonic, but this gal's already taken," she purred, eyes sparkling mischievously, and Sonic rolled his eyes, setting Rouge on her feet. The bat brushed herself off unnecessarily, then glanced around, remarkably unsurprised, as though she had been expecting to arrive here.

"Angel Island, huh?" she remarked, and as her eyes alighted upon the shattered Master Emerald, a grin flickered across her face. "Knucky isn't gonna like that," she muttered, and Sonic couldn't help but laugh.

"Tell me about it," he agreed, and Rouge looked up at him once more, smiling slightly. But then she looked past him and spotted Cosmo, and her smile faded, eyes flashing with recognition.

"Cosmo, right?" the bat said, nodding at the Seedrian, who stepped forwards to stand beside Sonic, looking slightly embarrassed. "That fairy's magic worked then, huh?"

Cosmo nodded mutely, and Rouge attempted to smile endearingly, something he could tell she didn't spend a lot of time practicing in the mirror. The bat continued to glance around, apparently surprised when she realized that no one else was here. Raising her eyebrows in incredulity and, sounding slightly awed, "You chose to rescue _me _first?"

"It was only by chance," Cosmo told her, and Rouge lowered her eyebrows, mocking offense, and she opened her mouth to respond, but she was beaten to it by a voice that sounded from behind them.

"You'd do better to ally yourself to a different company then, bat," sneered a cold, feline voice from behind them, and Sonic, Rouge and Cosmo looked around, their breath catching sharply in their throats as they spotted the speaker. The newcomer was thin and wraith-like, with pale grey skin leeched of its colour by the moonlight, a thick mane of seaweed-green hair framing her thin face, falling elegantly downwards to cover her eyes, sheathed in a sparkling silver dress.

"I don't remember asking you, little girl," Rouge retorted, recovering first. "Now run along like a good girl; you don't wanna get that nice dress dirty, do ya?"

The girl hissed, and bolts of onyx energy crackled around her head. Sonic instantly slid into a half-crouch, suspicions confirmed as to the newcomer's origins, while Cosmo trembled beside him in fear and Rouge mirrored his actions.

"I won't need to get my dress dirty," snarled the girl, her voice becoming even more feral, hands curling into fists. "My friend will finish you three off for me. It's time to _step up!"_

On the last word, the girl slashed her hands through the air, and vanished inside a puff of glittering black smoke, which dispersed to reveal a towering monster that Sonic could only describe as a solid shadow. It had long arms and legs, with strong fingers that it was constantly flexing, a diamond shaped head, with a gaping hole for a mouth that revealed rows and rows and sharp white teeth, resembling a circular saw. There was a swirling cyan rune upon its well-muscled chest, and Sonic was seized with desire to attack it.

The creature snarled ferally, then lunged forwards, scythe-like claws extended , but Sonic and Rouge were ready for it; Rouge leapt high into the air and streaked over the monster's head, whipping around and catching it sharply on the back of the head with her foot, while Sonic caught Cosmo up in his arms and sprinted through their attacker's spindly legs. Shrieking a painful shriek of outrage and pain, the monster skidded in a half-circle to face them once more, and Sonic placed Cosmo on her feet, shouting, "Cosmo, run!"

The Seedrian was frozen in denial and terror. "W-what?" she stammered, eyes widening in fear. "I can't j-just leave you-"

"We'll be fine, darling," Rouge snarled, alighting upon the ground beside Sonic, and they turned to stand back to back, both glaring intently at Cosmo. "Just go, we'll catch up."

Cosmo opened her mouth to argue, then clamped it shut and turned and sprinted down the stone steps that led to the ground, running hard in the direction she and Sonic had come. Sonic immediately turned his attention back towards the fight, and just in time; the monster had used their temporary distraction as an opportunity to strike, and was halfway through slashing its claws towards the pair when he looked around. Grunting with effort, Sonic rolled to the side, digging his heels into the ground to skid to a halt, then flung himself forwards, twisting into a somersault kick that caught the creature sharply under the chin before Rouge could do more than begin her descent from mid-air. She landed deftly beside him, and Sonic turned to her, breathing heavily, and gasped out, "Let's get out of here."

Rouge winked, though there was nothing jovial about the action. "My thoughts exactly." With nods to each other, they turned and sprinted away from the monster, Rouge flying through the air, Sonic bounding down the stairs, running at the speed of sound. It took them very little time to catch up to Cosmo who, despite her head start, did not seem to be making very good progress. Sonic slowed down to run beside the Seedrian, and at the same moment, the ground shook slightly beneath his feet, and an uneartheal roar was unleashed from behind them.

"Damn!" Sonic hissed, and with that, he swept Cosmo off her feet and leapt into the air, alighting soundlessly upon a branch, camouflaged by the darkness and foliage. Rouge landed beside him, looking perfectly at home in the tree, though her eyes were narrowed and sparkling with wariness. Breathing deeply, Sonic set a trembling Cosmo on her feet and motioned for him to be silent, while the monster that had been pursuing them pounded into view, skidding to a halt several yards away from their tree, flexing its fingers spasmodically, head tilted upwards, sniffing the air.

_We need some sort of advantage, _Sonic thought, glaring down at the creature's powerful frame. He knew that fighting the beast would delay their attempt to rescue the others, and right now, that was the last thing they needed, but he knew they could not allow the monster to be unleashed upon the city when they could prevent it.

Gritting his teeth together, Sonic slid into a half-crouch, preparing to leap out of their hiding spot, but then froze as inspiration struck him. "Cosmo," he breathed, so quietly that not even Rouge heard him. "One of the fake Emeralds!"

Cosmo stared at him blankly for a moment, then her eyes widened in comprehension and she plunged a hand into a pocket, fumbled with its contents for a minute then withdrew the miniature cyan Chaos Emerald. Sonic took it from her and, pausing for only a fraction of a second, popped it into his mouth. It dissolved immediately, and in its wake left a sense of utmost power flowing throughout his veins, strength and speed being pumped from his heart as opposed to blood, and a slow smile spread across Sonic's face; he felt certain that if he wanted to jump a hundred feet into the air, or run around all of Mobius in less than ten minutes, he could do so, and defeating the creature no longer looked impossible, but positively easy...

With a savage snarl, Sonic threw himself out of the tree, his arms outstretched, fists clenched, and sped through the air towards the monster at the speed of light. The shadow turned just in time for it to see him collide powerfully with its face, and with a shriek of pain it staggered backwards, clawed hand clawing at the air as though it were a solid enemy. Laughing mockingly, Sonic dodged around the monster's wild slash at him and sprinted in between its parted legs, dug his heels into the grass to halt his chaotic progress and then launched himself at it once more, corkscrewing his body so that he was sprinting towards it feet-first, aiming for the spiralling rune upon its chest-

But to his furious incredulity, the creature, displaying surprisingly good reactions, reached out and clamped its long fingered hands on either side of his body, stopping him a foot from its face. Cursing everything from the forest to Illumina, Sonic struggled and writhed, but despite his newfound energy, he could not break the monster's iron grip. A screeching, agonizing rumble growled up from out of the creature's chest, something Sonic suspected to be a laugh, but the sound was instantly driven from his mind as the rows and rows of filed white teeth that lined its gaping mouth began to rotate with a noise like several chainsaws roaring to life, reducing to innards of its mouth to nothing but a streak of lethal white. With exaggerated slowness, it lowered Sonic towards its face, blood red eyes sparkling maliciously, and Sonic writhed and shouted, knowing that even if he somehow managed to escape before he was completely demolished, he would not survive to fight another day-

"_NO!"_

Cosmo came flying from out of nowhere, and with a bewildered screech the creature's grip on him loosened enough for Cosmo to be able to knock him out of its iron grip. He had the confused impression of flying backwards very quickly, of someone snarling in terror, and then the streaking black mass that was the world was lost in a flash of white light and a piercing scream of agony-

The back of his head collided forcefully with a gnarled tree trunk, and a gasp of pain escaped his lips as little stars erupted before his eyes. Sonic slid down the tree trunk and landed in a pained heap, tangled in a thorn-covered bush, while his skull throbbed angrily, shaking with both shock and relief at his narrow escape.

"Sonic!" Cosmo gasped from close by, and Sonic, his recovery rate increased by the power tablet, sat up, the pain in his head already subsiding, stars fading from view. "Are you okay?"

A flicker of annoyance passed through Sonic as he got to his feet, for he was usually the one that asked that question, and he looked up into Cosmo's face, which was streaked with mud and sweat, her bright blue eyes wide with anxiety. "I'm fine," Sonic answered automatically, realizing that the Seedrian was not mocking him, merely worried about his friend.

"You're lucky we were here, kid," Rouge said smugly, alighting upon the ground beside him, a smile of such self-satisfaction upon her face that it was bordering on illegal. "Maybe you should sit the next one out, eh, Sonic?"

Sonic rolled his eyes at the bat in irritation, which only fuelled her infuriating smile. "Nice job," he complimented them grudgingly, and Cosmo's face lit up in a proud smile. "How'd you kill it?"

Rouge winked at him, her teeth glinting in the moonlight. "I hit that spiral on its chest. You gave me the idea, Sonic, but I guess it just goes to show that a man can't do a woman's job."

Sonic aimed a punch at her, but the bat skipped lightly out of harm's way, laughing all the while. A verbal sparring probably would have ensued, but Cosmo cleared her throat in irritation, reminding Sonic and Rouge that they were not alone.

"We've still got five people to rescue, and limited time to get them, what with that girl on our tails," the Seedrian announced, tapping on her comlink and conjuring up the holographic model of Mobius up once more. Rouge raised her eyebrows in surprise, muttering, "Cute. What else does that little computer do, exactly?"

"See for yourself," Sonic answered, tossing one of the spare comlink's to the bat, who snatched it out of the air and examined it as one might a diamond. He turned his attention back to the lined representation of Mobius, zeroing in on the orange dot pulsating closest to their own. It was north of where they were now, and judging by its location, was in the middle of a field.

"Okay," he said, as Cosmo closed the holograph. Rouge looked up from examining the comlink, looking impressed, and slapped it onto her wrist, both girls staring at Sonic. "Let's get going."

Cosmo shuffled her feet, looking slightly apprehensive. "The thing is, Sonic...how are we supposed to get down?"

Sonic and Rouge looked at each other, Sonic looking amused and Rouge wearing an evil smile upon her face. "Don't worry, kid," the thief said, winking in a way that was far from assuring. "You know how to sky dive, don't you?"


	23. High Stakes

Five minutes later found Cosmo perched upon Sonic's back, the side of her face pressed into his quills, squinting against the harsh winds that whipped at her face. They had not had to skydive off Angel Island, much to her relief, but slid down the ropes they had climbed up on. Her hands were still burning.

Rouge was flying slightly behind and above them, as she had been the entire trip, refusing to fly beside them as she stated, "I'd rather not fly beside you two kiddies."

Clearly, the effects of Tails' power crystal had not worn off, for Sonic was running two times as fast as normal, easily outstripping sound, his breath coming slow and easily, as though he were sleeping. It was a miracle Rouge was keeping up.

"What happened," Sonic asked, talking incredibly fast, "when you touched Rouge's crystal, Cosmo?"

Cosmo jumped slightly, surprised as the calm silence that had fallen over them was shattered. Grateful for a distraction from their chaotic speed, she whispered, "Well, we touched it at the same time, and when I didn't notice anything, I thought nothing was supposed to happen." She frowned slightly, straining to see past the stressful curtain that had fallen upon her memories when the shadow-like creature had revealed itself, then continued, "But then I looked at you, and I knew something was wrong. Your eyes were closed and you were shaking and you didn't seem to be able to hear anything I was saying. But then you opened your eyes and I guessed everything was okay...What happened when _you _touched the crystal?" she inquired finally, pulling her face out of the hedgehog's quills and staring intently at the back of Sonic's head.

He was silent for a minute, then rocketed into an explanation at breakneck pace. "As soon as I touched it, everything went white, and then Lumina appeared. She asked me some sort of question hang on...oh, right, there were four cups, filled with water, vinegar, poison and some invincibility potion, and she asked me which one I would force my worst enemy to drink, and which one I would drink, when faced with a painful death. She said that if I answered wrong, Rouge would have been imprisoned forever, and if I took too long, we would have both died. It took a while, but I got it eventually; I picked water for me and vinegar for my worst enemy."

Cosmo nodded thoughtfully, then lapsed into silence, her mind swirling with everything Sonic had told her. _Lumina gambled Sonic's and Rouge's lives on his riddle-answering ability? That can't be true, no one would put the stakes that high...the time limit, _she deduced after a moment. _Was a disguised warning that told him to hurry up, and the threat of Rouge's imprisonment if he answered wrong must have been there to caution him to think it through carefully._

_But what if that wasn't it at all? _demanded a voice in the Seedrian's head, an challenging, argumentative voice that she didn't often listen to. _What if Lumina was being serious? Would she have really gambled their lives? Or maybe she meant for them to die, and she's waiting to kill us at the next crystal?_

Cosmo's mind ground to a halt at this question; she had no idea which voice she was to believe. The Lumina she had known during her years of imprisonment back in the Temple of Light had been kind and gentle, a caring individual who she would be the last person you suspected to be capable of murder. But the one she had encountered just before her death had been cruel and uncaring, not showing the smallest fraction of mercy towards any of their party.

_So which Lumina is helping us now? _Cosmo thought, frowning slightly as she struggled with the complex. _The evil one or the one I knew during my imprisonment? _After several moments of pondering, she settled upon the latter. _No one's that good an actor, _she decided finally, her eyes shifting out of focus. _She couldn't have pretended to be my friend for three years only to show her true colours now. And if she wanted us dead, why is she helping us? Unless..._

"Cosmo, check the comlink!" Sonic called sharply, tearing her away from her thoughts. Cosmo gave a huge start, and for a split second, she stared about in bewilderment, disoriented at her sudden change of surroundings, but then gave her head a little shake and forced her wrist away from Sonic's back. Their dark purple dot was rapidly approaching a nearby orange one, and in less than a second they were touching.

"Stop!" Cosmo cried, then screamed shrilly, clamping her hands around Sonic's neck as he lurched to a halt at her command, tilting so that he was almost parallel to the ground. Gulping down cool night air in attempt to calm herself down, Cosmo loosened her grip on Sonic's neck, gasping out, "Sorry."

"Never mind that," Sonic answered, twisting his head around so that he could stare at her, his light green eyes sparkling with an emotion the Seedrian could not quite place. "Are you sure this is the right place?"

Cosmo cast a cursorary glance at her watch before looking back up and responding, "Yep. Why?"

She slid off Sonic's back and moved to stand beside him, staring intently into his eyes. Sonic looked away almost immediately, pointing towards a spot in the distance. "Because that means that the next person is underwater."

Cosmo's eyes snapped away from Sonic's face so that she could stare at where he was pointing. The ground ahead of them began to slope like a massive crater hole, and the grassy slopes were dotted with multicoloured flowers. Sure enough there was a large circular pond at the base of the decline, perfectly clam, and it would have looked for all the world to be a blurry mirror if not for the ghostly green glow emanating out from its depths. And unless the lake did that on its own, the Seedrian was quite certain that there was someone at the bottom of the lake.

"Is that a bad thing?" Cosmo asked, cocking her head to the side and turning to stare confusedly at Sonic. Obviously, it would be a bit more dangerous than rescuing Rouge from Angel Island, but she was confident it wouldn't be too hard. To her surprise, Sonic's lips tightened, and he looked to be struggling with himself, as though debating whether or not to tell her something.

After several moments, he seemed to master himself, and Sonic stared at a space above Cosmo's head as he muttered, "I...don't like water."

Cosmo was so exasperated that it took her a moment to realize she was laughing. She had thought of Sonic as an immovable source of fearlessness, someone that could always be counted upon to face a challenge, albeit mortal. But to hear this, that he was not, in fact, without a weakness, tipped Cosmo over the edge of hysteria on which she had been bordering, and her outburst of laughter was more a mixture or tension and frustration at their present situation.

"What's the joke?" asked Rouge, alighting beside Sonic and looking visibly disgruntled. Cosmo cut her laughter up abruptly; Sonic did not need Rouge teasing him about his fear.

"The next person's underwater," Sonic informed the bat, jerking a thumb over his shoulder in the pond's direction. Rouge's earthy brown eyes narrowed slightly as she stared at the water, and then, with a reluctant smile playing about her lips, she said, "Ah...well, the thing is, kiddies, I don't really _do _water. Flying's my thing, you know, and the wings..." she gestured at the leathery black wings protruding from her jumpsuit, and Cosmo nodded slowly, her heart sinking.

"Alright," Cosmo said loftily, casting an amused look at Sonic. "Well, I'm still going, so I guess I'll see you two later."

"_Us _two?" Rouge asked sharply, her eyes widening in suspicion and flickering towards Sonic. "What about you?"

Sonic seemed to be grappling with himself again, his form shaking slightly from the intensity of his inner brawl. Cosmo and Rouge watched him in amusement, and the Seedrian knew he was weighing his options; he did not have an iron-clad excuse like Rouge, and unless he wanted to admit his fear to the bat, he was going to end up coming with her.

"Alright, let's do this," he said finally, sounding like he was trying put some iron into his voice. Rouge winked, and made to jump into the air once more, but Cosmo grabbed her arm, remembering something.

"Wait!" she cried, pulling out a handful of spare comlinks. "Take these!"

Rouge landed upon the ground grudgingly, accepting the handful of technology from the Seedrian. Sonic snapped his fingers sharply, evidently remembering something, and said, "Don't forget the power tablets." Cosmo nodded wordlessly and pulled out the remaining six fake Chaos Emeralds, adding them to the treasure trove in Rouge's hands. The bat's eyes widened as the little gems tinkled against the technology, and her eyes widened as she murmured, "Chaos Emeralds?"

"Nope," Sonic told her, a slight snap in his voice. "They're fakes. Power tablets, actually, and they're useless to anyone except us, so don't think of trying to sell them."

"Yeah, yeah," Rouge grumbled, stuffing the comlinks and tablets into her pocket. "You just concentrate on trying not to drown, Sonic."

And with that, she leapt into the air with rather astonishing grace, swooping across the lake. "Stay out of sight!" Sonic called after her, and when the bat only stuck her tongue out at him from over her shoulder, he shrugged unconcernedly and started down the steep incline that lead to the bottom of the hill.

As they came to a silent stop at the edge of the pond, a sense of foreboding crept over Cosmo as she remembered the strange girl who had unleashed the shadow monster upon them. The fact that she seemed to have been waiting for them when they went to rescue Rouge unnerved the Seedrian, and she wondered fearfully if they were about to walk into another trap. She bent down and stared at her reflection in the mirror-like surface, and her already pale face was turned ghostly in the haunting green glow of the pool. Her gaze flickered towards Sonic's reflection, and he, with his wide, apprehensively gaunt eyes, looked even more haunted.

Clearing her throat to steady herself, she asked, "Ready?" Sonic looked up at her sharply, sensing the concealed fear in her voice, and nodded slowly, a steely glint in his eyes.

"Let's do this," Sonic confirmed, and with small nods to each other, they jumped into the unknown.

The water was icy cold, like plunging into the arctic, and it slapped the air from Cosmo's lungs the moment she broke its surface. Fighting down the urge to gasp in shock, Cosmo shivered slightly as she stared about herself, her cheeks ballooned like a puffer fish's. She was in a reed-filled world, illuminated only by the filtered silver moonlight and the ghostly green glow that was far more pronounced underwater. Silvery fishtails whipped out of sight, clearly startled, and her dark jade hair floated around her face in delicate jade clouds.

Something grabbed her arm, and Cosmo screamed in utmost terror, whipping around as a stream of bubbles escaped her mouth, her scream warped, twisted. To her relief, Sonic was responsible for the scare, and was pointing urgently at the surface of the pond. Cosmo nodded, her lungs burning from lack of oxygen, and she kicked her legs to force herself upwards, Sonic like a bullet at her side.

She broke the surface mouth-first, gulping down the warm summertime air as fast as she could, coughing and spluttering as she accidentally inhaled water. After several seconds of deep breathing, Cosmo concentrated on treading water, raking wet hair out of her eyes as she stared about wildly for Sonic.

"Sonic? _Sonic?" _she gasped out, unable to see her friend.

"Right here," Sonic's voice sounded from behind her, and Cosmo spun around, sending a small wave of water rushing towards her friend. Spitting out a fountain of the liquid, Sonic swept his fur out of his face, and to her self-shame, that he looked to be fighting back the urge to yell in disgust.

"Are you okay?" Cosmo asked, her voice full of concern, and Sonic's expression of disgust deepened at the question. "Do I look hurt?" he asked a tad sharp. Cosmo raised her eyebrows at him, and Sonic's anger deflated like a balloon.

"This stuff is disgusting," he remarked, slapping his hand against the water's surface, causing little rings to sprint away from his hand, joining the larger ones that had been caused at their surfacing. Cosmo smiled slightly, but her eyes remained sad.

"I'm sorry, Sonic," she murmured, and her companion focused upon her with some difficulty. "Haven't you ever gone underwater before?"

"Once," Sonic muttered, after a slight pause. "To...to save Amy."

_Of course, _Cosmo thought, fighting back a sly smile, but out loud she said bracingly, "Well, let's hope she's here right now. Ready to go back under?"

Sonic took three deep breaths, then nodded wordlessly. Both taking deep gulps of air, they submerged themselves once more. The cold water assaulted Cosmo's head like a screaming wind, driving all but thoughts of their imprisoned friend from her mind, and it was only that knowledge that kept her swimming. Pushing stubborn reeds out of her way, Cosmo fought through the thick mass of underwater vegetation, accidentally slapping several fish in her haste. It seemed incredibly to her how deep the pond was, but she knew by the fact that the glowing was growing ever brighter that they were getting close.

Her lungs burned, her head spun, but the Seedrian forced herself onwards, while Sonic followed right behind her, an expression of utmost disgust upon his face. After several moments, they broke free of the reed forest, and Cosmo found herself in what she could only describe as an underwater clearing. The sandy floor was covered in rocks, shells, and crustaceans, schools of fish hovered in clouds in any direction you cared to look, but her attention was focused solely on the crystal before her. Or more importantly, its occupant.

Just like Rouge's, there were hundreds of smaller, light green crystals growing in jagged formation around the main crystal's base. Some distant part of her mind registered that Sonic may be slightly disappointed, but she was not paying attention to that. Tails was imprisoned before them, his two tails motionless for once, frozen behind him in mid-wave, and one gloved hand was pressed against the surface of the crystal, the other slack at his side. For once, there was no analytical frown upon the fox's face, but instead was a calm, oblivious expression that all sleeping creatures wore.

Cosmo gasped in wonder, and inhaled a mouthful of burning water for her troubles. She came back to her body with a slight jolt, and though her instinct was to cough, she fought it back, knowing that it would be the last proper thought in her mind if she didn't. Covering her mouth with her hand, Cosmo kicked furiously towards the surface, her whole form convulsing with suppressed coughs, her lungs screaming for air, her head spinning from lack of oxygen.

Coughing painfully, Cosmo broke the surface once more, spluttering and choking, expelling water and taking in water. She did not hear Sonic break the surface behind her, but she did feel him pounding her on the back, trying to help her. It took several breaths, but eventually her airways were clear, and the Seedrian was able to take down proper gasps of breath.

"It's Tails!" she choked out as soon as she could, turning to stare gleefully at Sonic, and she was relieved to see an excited smile upon the hedgehog's face.

"I know!" Sonic beamed, clapping her on the shoulder. For a moment they floated there, trapped in a happy bubble, but then Sonic's smile faded slightly, and he began to take deep, anxious breaths, apparently trying to steady himself.

Cosmo frowned sadly as she stared at her friend, and then, making a split-second decision, she blurted out, "Stay here!"

Sonic paused in mid-breath, a comically stunned expression upon his face. "What?" he said finally, sounding bewildered.

"Stay here," Cosmo repeated, trying without success to make her voice stern. Sonic shook his head slowly, looking slightly shocked, but she used his speechlessness as an opportunity to press her point.

"Look, only one of us is going to be able to free him anyway, and it'll be pointless for the other person to wait around for them. No offense, but I'm the better swimmer, and I think I'll be more able to bring Tails back up to the surface then you. If you stay here, you can keep a watch on me and pull me up if there's any trouble."

Sonic did not look impressed. "I don't know -" he began hesitantly, but Cosmo shook her head sternly.

"No. I'm doing this on my own," she told him firmly, placing a hand on his arm.

"But I -"

"Trust me, please."

They stared at each other for a moment, then, sighing softly, Sonic bowed his head, silently admitting defeat. Cosmo squeezed his arm in thanks and made to dive down once more, but then Sonic's head snapped up and he warned, "Be careful."

With a very Sonic-ish wink, Cosmo smiled at her companion and then sunk back into the water. This time, she was ready for the onslaught of cold, and she would allow nothing to break her concentration as she swum to the bottom of the pond floor, her bright blue eyes wide and fixed upon Tails' motionless form. Fish scattered, giving her a wide berth, and in no time at all Cosmo was hovering in front of her imprisoned friend, anxiously sizing him up. But then, realizing that this was doing him no good, she raised up one hand and placed it on the glass separating her from his face.

Immediately, her mind was seized by a mass of bright white light, punctuated only by the small, child-sized Maginaire floating before her.

"Lumina!" Cosmo gasped, forgetting that she was underwater, and she cut her exclamation off abruptly, only to realize that wherever she was, it was with air. The Maginaire smiled slightly at her name and blinked her crystalline blue eyes once before launching into speech.

"Before you can rescue Tails," Lumina murmured, her soft, musical voice ringing with purposefulness. "You must prove that you are worthy. Answer this riddle correctly on your first try, and you will both pass unscathed. Stay silent, and one of your friends will die. Answer wrongly, and Tails will be trapped here forever."

Cosmo was stunned at Lumina's words; her face was completely blank, her eyes betraying no hint of a bluff, and she almost completely certain that the Maginaire was not lying.

_It...it's just to make sure you think it through carefully, _a voice in her head stammered without any real conviction. _That's all..._

But she wrenched herself away from her thoughts when she registered Lumina speaking again.

"_Start with a sound that is first to choose,_

_It begins in caution but ends in death. _

"_Next, give me a sound that you would find,_

_When you receive a blow to the head or are attacked from behind._

"_Then make this word plural, and tell me this;_

_Which creature would a certain rabbit miss?"_

Cosmo stared at Lumina like an imbecile, her mouth slightly open, replaying the Maginaire's words in her head. Despite being, as a Seedrian, gifted with extreme intellect and patience, as well as the ability to solve seemingly impossible puzzles, she needed time and calmness to solve such things, and neither luxury was present right now.

"Can...can I hear the first part again?" she stammered, her heart pounding audibly in her ears, and Lumina smiled slightly before repeating the first line.

"Start with a sound that is first to choose," she murmured, closing her eyes slowly. "It begins in caution but ends in death."

_I have no idea, _Cosmo thought blankly. _What the...what does that even mean? Okay, let's hear the second part..._

"What about the second part?" she pleaded, but Lumina was already reciting it.

"Next give me a sound that you would find when you receive a blow to the head or are attacked from behind."

_Hmmm...that's not that cryptic....some sort of exclamation...'ouch'? Or maybe 'ow'? No...I don't know! Damn, let's hear the last part._

But before she could request it, Lumina murmured, "Then make this word plural, and tell me this; which type of creature would a certain rabbit miss?"

_Could she mean Cream? _Cosmo wondered, narrowing her eyes and picturing the little rabbit she had encountered in heaven. _A creature she would miss, hmm...well, that's obviously Cheese, those two are inseparable...like cream cheese, ha-ha._

"Cheese...ow...Cheese...ow..." Cosmo muttered under her breath, straining her mind as far as it would go in an effort to think of what Cheese was. Her mind drifted towards her first encounter with Cream, upon the Tornado 2.0.

"_And what's this little guy's name?" she had asked, gesturing to Cheese, perched upon Cream's shoulder. The rabbit had giggled softly, tickling her companion under the chin._

"_This" guy?" Cream giggled shyly. "He's Cheese, Cheese the Chao!"_

"Chao," Cosmo murmured, her eyes snapping open. "Chow...Chow...Chows! _Chaos!"_

She shouted the last word triumphantly, and Lumina's face split into a dazzling smile. "Correct!" cried the Maginaire, clapping her hands gleefully. "Now go forth and save the rest of your friends!"

Still smiling at the thrill of success, it came as a huge shock to Cosmo when she came back to her body, only to find herself underwater once more. Clapping a hand over her mouth to keep from gasping in shock, and she gazed about herself in an effort to find Tails, but she was plunged in to panic when she realized that the crystal the fox had been imprisoned in had vanished, so that the lake was only lit by the weak light of the silvery moon. The entire world had gone black, filled with impenetrable shadows, and only a dim circle of luminescence hovered around her at chest level, thrown forwards by her amulet.

It took her less than a second to gather her senses, by which time Cosmo realized that though the world may have gone dark, it did not change the place where Tails had been floating. Ballooning her cheeks in an effort to remind herself that she was underwater, Cosmo reached out and, to her jubilation, found a furry wrist floating inches from her face. Unsure whether or not her friend was conscious, Cosmo threw her head up to the watery heavens and kicked furiously, trying to propel herself to the surface as fast as she could. A dark, Sonic-shaped shadow hovered above her, beckoning her furiously towards the surface, but Cosmo was unsure if she would be able to reach him; her arm burned from the strain on dragging Tails upwards, her body was aching with exhaustion, she did not have enough air, she couldn't think, even her vision was beginning to bend and twist-

A maelstrom of hot air and bubbles erupted from beneath her, a jet stream of heat causing Cosmo's dress to balloon out around her. The force of the bubbles sent her on her way a little faster, reinvigorating her determination.

"MMPH!" came a terrified sound from below her, and Cosmo knew, in that second, that Tails was conscious. With an effort that felt like it might kill her, Cosmo dragged her friend up so that he was level with her and used the remains of her ebbing strength to push him towards the surface. Almost crying from lack of air, Cosmo kicked furiously after him, her hands clawing desperately at the insubstantial mass around her, and water was all that she knew, it had been her past, present, and future if she didn't hurry up-

And then she broke the surface, gulping down air, coughing and spluttering and sobbing, her lungs screaming with relief, and she could suddenly see why Sonic hated water so much...

"The shore!" yelled Sonic from somewhere on her right. "Get to the shore!"

Exhausted, Cosmo lay flat on her stomach and began to paddle towards the surface, but then, something impossible strong gripped her by the bottom of the dress and yanked her downwards, a being a thousand times stronger than she. The Seedrian only had time to scream in terror before she had been plunged underwater once more, and accidentally inhaled a mouthful of water. All sense of awareness had deserted her, and Cosmo decided that the best thing she could do in the present situation was to panic as much as she could. She coughed and choked on buckets of freezing cold water, her lungs berating her for this sudden return of cold, airless liquid. She pulled desperately at the skirt of her dress, but it would not come away. As her movements became slower and slower, Cosmo looked over her shoulder, through the haze of multicoloured bubbles that had appeared around her and the sense of unreality that preceded unconsciousness, and saw that a pair of slanting red eyes were burning the shadows around her, and her captor's savage snarl sent a whirlpool of bubbles flying out around her.

_This is it, _Cosmo thought dully, looking up at the distant surface, where the pale circle that was the moon hovered. _Death again. _Again! _Why so soon? Just after I was reunited with Sonic and Tails and Rouge! Now I will never know if Sonic finds Amy, or if they defeat Illumina-_

And just as her soul was about to disappear from Mobius, she felt two indescribably firm hands seize her own, and with a Herculean effort, someone yanked her out of her captor's grip. An enraged roar sent a cushion of hot air flying out from beneath her, and Cosmo and her saviour were blasted the remaining distance between themselves and the surface, flying a full five feet into the air before they began their descent down. Completely disoriented, Cosmo registered that she was being pulled at an impossible speed in some unknown direction, while a familiar voice screamed words her soggy brain could not comprehend.

Time seemed to have become warped and twisted, insubstantial and unreal, just as the water had seemed when Cosmo was drowning. She herself was moving through it at a normal pace, and her lungs were rapidly re-inflating, her strength and hearing were coming back, and as she opened her eyes, she felt as though she were emerging from another pool of water, which she broke face first.

She was lying collapsed upon a damp incline, her whole form heaving with each breath she took. Someone's hands were fluttering nervously around her, eager to help but unsure as to what she needed it with, and she heard Tails shouting, "Cosmo! Are you alright? Cosmo?"

"T-Tails!" Cosmo choked out, sweeping her hair out of her face. Tails' face was inches from her own, his fur matted to his face, water dripping off his whiskers. The anxiousness drained from his face as he took in her alert expression, and with a gasp of, "Thank the gods!" he threw his arms around her and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. Cosmo collapsed against him, sighing with relief, but just as her eyes were about to slip shut, she caught sight of Sonic, and her mind snapped back into full awareness.

Sonic was clawing his way towards them on his hands and knees, shuddering and coughing, his whole form convulsing with each breath. He looked as though he had been spending the last five years of his life living at the bottom of the well, and as she watched, he raised his head slightly and panted, "Never...again...that was the most horrible...not even for the last Chaos Emerald -"

"Glad to see you've gotten over your fear," laughed Tails, releasing Cosmo and pulling Sonic to his feet. The hedgehog shot him a poisonous look before turning to Cosmo, his hands on his knees, light green eyes boring into hers. "We're even now, Cosmo. I saved you, you saved me, and Tails here hasn't done anything because he's been sleeping at the bottom of a lake -"

But the rest of sentence was cut off by an ear splitting explosion that came from the depths of the pool. Cosmo's scream of terror was lost as a veritable wall of water was flying out from the middle of the pond, twenty feet tall, writhing and twisting like coiling flames, and Cosmo was blasted off her feet as it hit her, slamming painfully against the grassy incline as it washed over her. It washed away fairly quickly, draining back down to the bottom, and, spluttering indignantly, Cosmo pushed herself up off the ground, staring around for the source of the explosion, and when she spotted it, she almost fainted.

The cause was not hard to find; a massive creature was protruding from the water, as thick as ten tree trunks together. Its scales were bluish-grey, and waves of water drained down its form in massive curtains. Its head was serpentine, pointed and sinister, curving black spikes travelling from its head to its back, explaining the source of the burning red eyes. Its massive maw was open, revealing rows and rows of dagger sharp, curving yellow teeth. Upon its forehead, just like the one upon the shadow-like creature's back, was a small, acid green spiral, and two things became apparent to Cosmo; hitting that was the only way they could hope of defeating this creature, and that doing so would be almost impossible.

Tails swore violently, reminding Cosmo that she was not alone. "How did _that _fit in _there?" _demanded the fox, sounding exasperated. But they did not have time for anymore exchanges, for at the sound of his voice, the monster unleashed a deafening roar and its head rocketed towards them with terrifying speed, its mouth opening ever-wider to reveal more rows of teeth-

With shouts of alarm, Sonic, Tails and Cosmo scattered; Tails leapt high into the air and flew out of harm's way, while Sonic moved so fast that a blue streak of light followed his form. Cosmo threw herself unceremoniously to the side, her ears ringing with her own screams, and not a moment too soon; the creature slammed mouth-first upon the ground, and its razor sharp teeth buried themselves into the damp ground, effectively trapping the sea monster. Roaring indignantly, the monster jerked and thrashed, attempting to free itself, but to no avail. Cosmo jumped to her feet and started to run forwards, unsure as to what she was planning to do, but Sonic beat her to it; he moved so fast that he left an image of himself in the place where he had landed, and appeared to practically teleport onto of the monster's head.

His face was a contorted mass of fury and concentration as he drew his fist back, preparing to strike, and as he unleashed a ferocious blow upon the monster's forehead, it succeeded in wrenching itself free of the ground and tried to catapult Sonic into the air, but he was too far gone in his attack to be thrown off; the world was rent apart by a bloodcurdling bellow of agony and white light, and howling winds nearly blasted Cosmo off her feet. But then all three had faded away, and Cosmo was standing at the edge of the sinisterly innocent-looking lake, no trace of evidence left behind that a ten foot-tall beast had just erupted out of it. In the monster's place stood Sonic, looking pleased with himself, and even as she watched, Rouge landed beside him, her expression mocking anger.

"I was gonna be two for two, kiddo," she complained, but then a smile twisted itself upon her lips and she punched him playfully on the shoulder. "Nice going, Sonic."

A broad smile lit Cosmo's face as she stared at Sonic, and then the next thing she knew, she was hugging him as tightly as she could. He had saved her life, and even if she didn't trust herself to speak yet, she was going to convey her happiness to him, one way or another.

"Where were you, Rouge?" Tails asked, falling out of the air and landing on Sonic's other side. Cosmo pulled herself away from the hedgehog to stare inquiringly at Rouge, and she recoiled slightly as she took in Rouge's dangerous expression. She looked fearsomely impressive, silhouetted by the moonlight, and an angry red gleam was present in her eyes.

"I was out of sight, just like you said I should be," the bat explained, her normally lazy voice sharp, menacing. "And I was keeping tabs on you guys, in case you needed my help. But then that _girl _showed up again, and she was going on and on about how this wasn't my fight, and how I should be saving myself...

"I told her off, obviously; I told her she should run along back to fairyland so that I wouldn't have to hurt her and get her dress all dirty. She didn't like that, not one bit," a positively dangerous look crept into Rouge's eye as she said the last sentence, and she continued in a low growl. "She started shooting fireballs at me from her hands, but you've gotta be quicker than that to catch a bat. In the end I punched her in the face, and she started cursing at me in some other language, but then she vanished and that snake thing came out of the water, so I went to help you guys, and you know the rest."

"Who's this girl, exactly?" Tails asked, looking sceptical. Cosmo saw Sonic and Rouge roll their eyes at each other, something Tails missed, and so she took it upon herself to explain how they had rescued Rouge from Angel Island and then encountered the strange, Maginaire-like girl who had set a monster upon them. Tails listened intently the entire time, but Sonic and Rouge, who already knew the story, departed for the night.

"And you have no idea where she's from?" Tails inquired as they walked up the hill, settling themselves down beside Sonic.

"Oh, I've got an idea," whispered Cosmo, lowering her voice out of respect for Sonic. "Just no proof."

There was silence for a moment, and then Tails spoke, nodding at Sonic's unconscious form. "How's he holding up?"

Cosmo did not have to ask what he meant. "I know he misses her," she murmured, shifting her gaze from Sonic to Tails, staring into the bright blue eyes that were identical to her own. "He tries to hide it, but not well enough."

"You guys rescued Rouge first?" Tails asked, sounding mildly surprised. Cosmo rolled her eyes at him, and he laughed softly.

"It was just by chance," she hissed, repeating the words she had spoken to Rouge back on Angel Island. "Believe me, if your comlinks had told us who was where, we'd have Amy here, not Rouge."

"The comlinks?" Tails perked up instantly, his ears twitching at the mention of his technology. "You have them? How'd you find us? The infra-red sensor?"

"Was that even English?" Cosmo laughed, but there was a manic gleam in her friend's eyes, so she continued for his benefit. "We searched for Maginaryworld hotspots on Mobius, and they showed up right away."

Tails did not answer, preferring to mutter indistinctly to himself. Cosmo caught the words 'too easy' and 'heightened security'.

Suddenly, a wave of tiredness crashed over her, and she felt as though she had been awake for a hundred years, not twelve hours. She tried unsuccessfully to stifle a yawn, and Tails seemed to come back to himself, his sharp blue eyes focusing on her. Cosmo grinned sheepishly as she returned his stare.

"I know you can't be all that tired, but I sure am," she yawned, stretching her arms above her head. Tails winked at her, clapping a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay," he muttered, staring up at the half-moon above them. "I'll keep watch."

Cosmo smiled at the fox, then kissed him swiftly on the cheek, while her face burned embarrassedly. "Goodnight, Tails," she murmured, curling herself into a ball and facing away from him. Her eyes slipped closed, and she lost herself in a dream world where the idea of Illumina was just that; an idea.

Several hours later found Sonic, Tails, Cosmo and Rouge wrapped up in their respective dreams, splayed upon the grass in various poses of sleep. This meant that none of them were aware that a tall shadow with long, flowing blonde hair and sweeping robes appeared in their midst without so much as a whisper of sound, accompanied by a smaller shadow in a long dress.

"Hmmm," murmured the taller of the two. "Two already? My, they seem to go through your friends fast, Epona."

The smaller of the two, apparently called Epona, bowed its head in remorse. "My apologies, my lady. I'm astonished that they managed to defeat The Pain and The Wave as quickly as they did."

"As am I," hissed the taller shadow, her light, musical voice shifting to an angry, venomous snarl. "I charged you with the task of delaying Sonic the Hedgehog because I believed you would excel at it. Now I am regretting my decision."

Without waiting for her companion to respond, the taller shadow drifted forwards, almost dream-like, and came to a stop above one of the figures curled upon the ground. Her beautiful features twisted into an ugly mask of detestment as she stared down at the unconscious being.

"Cosmo," she murmured, and the air around her seemed to drop twenty degrees in temperature. "I thought I'd seen the last of you. Very well," she paused, her dark eyes glittering maliciously. "This means that I will get to claim your life twice."

She turned away from the Seedrian, her eyes roving about the grassy clearing and settling upon the figure that was laying a short ways apart from the others. This was a person she did not recognize, having never met her, but she was sure she knew what type of animal it was.

"This is the bat of which you spoke?" the tall shadow whispered, glaring at Rouge's motionless form.

"Yes," murmured Epona, drifting forwards to stand over Rouge, resentment colouring her cat-like voice. "I have warned her to disassociate herself from this group, but she remains as stubborn as a mule. Shall I eliminate her?" she asked hopefully, closing her fist and causing a halo of purple fire to appear around it, but the tall shadow waved her down.

"No need," murmured the shadow. "That means she is choosing to witness a terrible tragedy. Have you ever wondered," the tall shadow paused, and a truly evil smile lit her face as she turned to face her companion. "What total despair looks like?"

The girl called Epona smirked as she looked up at her superior. "I believe I have seen it, my lady."

"Not yet you haven't," murmured Illumina, casting her gaze towards the distant mountains. "But you will. Come, Epona."

The goddess extended her hand towards Epona, who touched it with the tips of her fingers, and the pair vanished as quickly and silently as they had come. It was then that Rouge opened her eyes, gazing questioningly up at the moon.

_I wonder, _thought the bat, a sly smile playing about her lips as she thought of all she had just heard. _Just how far back this puts that girl?_


	24. Retribution, Retaliation and Reunion

Rouge stared up at the night time sky for a moment, turning over all that she had heard through her mind. _I bet the others can make more sense of it than I can, _she decided finally, easing into sitting position and casting her gaze about for her companions, all of whom were curled upon the ground within feet of each other. Her gaze alighted eventually upon Sonic, for next to Knuckles, she liked him the best out of their little group, and she wasn't in the mood – was she ever? – for one of Tails' lectures, while she found Cosmo, quite simply, annoying.

Rouge forced herself to her feet and then crept forwards, moving silently across the space between them and stepping carefully over Tails and Cosmo so that she could kneel beside Sonic. Placing her mouth an inch from his ear, she breathed, "Wake up, kid."

As though he had been expecting this, Sonic sat bolt upright, his bright green eyes alert and staring, and he moved so fast that he nearly banged his head against hers. The wildness in his eyes faded a little as he took in Rouge's form, and the tension deflated from his shoulders like a punctured balloon.

_Good, he didn't shout, _Rouge thought smugly, getting slowly to her feet. "Hey there," she greeted him with a wink. Sonic's eyes narrowed and, after a quick once-over of his surroundings, Sonic hissed, "What? This better be worth losing sleep for, Rouge."

"Oh, it is," responded Rouge, her mood elevating as Sonic scowled and got grudgingly to his feet. Winking again, the bat turned and lead Sonic up a low hill, glancing over her shoulder to make sure Tails and Cosmo were still asleep. She stopped at the base of the hill, while Sonic continued to stride forwards for a moment before turning sharply on his heel, folding his arms across his chest.

"What is it?" Sonic yawned, tossing his head irritably. "I'm exhausted."

"Keep your pants on," Rouge chided, smiling slightly as she looked the hedgehog up and down. "Not that your wearing any," she added as an afterthought, and Sonic growled angrily and made to stalk past her, but she threw an arm out, the jovialness draining from her face.

"Alright, alright!" she relented, pushing Sonic back into position, while he muttered something unprintable. "It could be nothing, but..."

"Stop playing games, Rouge," Sonic hissed, glancing over the top of the hill. "I'm getting old here."

"We all are hun. Anyway, while you guys were all in dreamland, these two people appeared, like, out of nowhere. Literally. One was that girl, Epona, I think, and the other one...well, I didn't see her face, but she was bossing the other one around, and she had this weird voice...like music..."

Sonic attentiveness shot from zero to a hundred percent, his ears twitching spasmodically, while his eyes widened in horror. "You...you didn't see her face? Can you describe her at all?"

Rouge frowned, trying to remember; she had not been facing the two intruders when they appeared, and had only managed to sneak a peek upwards through her lashes when the pair had turned away from her. "She was wearing weird clothes," Rouge admitted slowly, squinting at the ground. "Like robes or something. And she had really long blonde hair – huh?"

Sonic had already gone, taking off so fast that he left an image of himself in his place, a flickering copy with its mouth open in terror. Raising her eyebrows in amusement, Rouge leapt into the air, streaking over the hill like a speeding arrow. She alighted beside Sonic just as Cosmo sat up sleepily, rubbing her eyes and looking bemused. The hedgehog was shaking Tails' shoulder roughly, hissing, "Tails. _Tails! _Wake up!"

"Mhuh?" groaned Tails, pressing the heel of his hand against his temple as he sat slowly upright, blinking dazedly up at them all."What...? Sonic, what's going on? It's all dark..."

"Illumina, that's what," Sonic said flatly, and Rouge raised her eyebrows at their reactions; Cosmo froze in mid yawn and Tails bewildered expression morphed and froze into one of utmost terror.

"But Sonic," Cosmo whispered, sounding mortified as he helped her to her feet. "How do you -?"  
"I saw her," Rogue interrupted, and both Cosmo and Tails turned to look at her incredulously. "Five minutes ago. She was talking to that girl again, and she's heading for the places where the others are imprisoned. Which means..."

"We've got to get going," Sonic finished, talking very fast out of panic. "Rouge, can you pass us some comlinks?"

Rouge had already pulled out two comlinks from her pocket and tossed one to Tails and Cosmo each. They caught them deftly, while she tapped swiftly upon its mini-computer and conjured up the same holograph Cosmo had back on Angel Island. Only three orange dots remained, forming an irregular triangle, none very close to where they were now.

"It looks like we're heading to Emerald Coast," Tails announced, a frown upon his face as he reached forwards, his index finger puncturing the matrix of green lasers. Rouge nodded once, knowing that the beach wouldn't be that busy in the middle of the night, and with a final tap on her comlink, she leapt into the air and shot forwards like a bullet, leaving Sonic, Tails and Cosmo far behind. She was not unduly troubled, however; they would catch up quickly enough, what with their power tablets and such.

_Am I doing the right thing? _Rouge thought suddenly, her eyes shifting out of focus as she remembered the girl named Epona's repeated warnings. _Wouldn't it be better to leave right now? They wouldn't even see me, all it would take would be to lose myself in the clouds and then double back..._

_That, _said a voice in her head, one that had only awoken recently, something she regarded as an annoyance to a thief such as herself. _Is despicable. _You're _the reason they're in this mess anyway! If you hadn't blabbed to Eggman, you wouldn't even _be _in this situation right now! Knuckles would still be alive, and..._

The voice in her head trailed off, for it had achieved the effect it had wanted; shame coursed through Rouge like a fast-acting poison, and her eyes slipped back into focus as a shocking realization hit, her that she was facing the frightening possibility of living without Knuckles, Knuckles, who had always stood by her. Knuckles, who had looked over her love for Shadow and poured his heart and soul into her...

Was she going soft? Did this mark the end of her criminal career? Seventeen years old, and one of the best – not to mention most stylish – thief on Mobius.

_No, _Rouge told herself sternly, repulsed at the idea of living without crime. _I'll fix my mistake, but only because I have to. Then it's back to the lonely life of a criminal, ha-ha._

Tearing her mind away from her thought, Rouge returned to her body somewhat, and her eyes immediately narrowed when she spotted something twinkling, mysteriously silver, in the distance. She streamlined her body and rocketed upwards, her head pointing towards the unknown object, eyes focused upon it, unsure what it was-

When it came into focus, Rouge nearly toppled out of the air; Cream and Cheese were imprisoned inside it, both upright, standing as though upon an invisible platform. Their silvery cage swirled and twisted, and little sparks of light whirled inside it like snowflakes, making Cream and Cheese look like the occupants of an oversized snow globe.

"STOP!" Rouge shouted at the top of her lungs, rocketing to a halt in mid-air. Immediately, gravity seized her and yanked her harshly back towards the ground, and the bat did not resist; flailing her wings in an effort to slow her fall, Rouge folded her arms across her chest, ignoring the chaotic howling of speed induced winds, squinting through her tears that were caused by the harsh night air. She landed upright with a dull thud, absorbing the impact with her knees, and to her surprise, Sonic and Cosmo were waiting for her, their eyes wide with apprehension as they stared intently at her. Tails landed beside her almost immediately, looking slightly disgruntled.

"What's up, Rouge?" Sonic asked, while Cosmo slid off his back.

"Cream and Cheese, that's what," Rouge responded, gesturing to the sky above them. "About ten thousand feet up, to be exact."

Cosmo gasped in horror, clapping her hands over her mouth, while Sonic and Tails exchanged incredulous looks. "I...I don't see how...how are Cosmo and I going to get up there?" Sonic asked finally, casting an apprehensive look up at the stars.

"That's okay," Rouge said, winking as she punched Tails lightly on the shoulder. "Me and Tails'll get them down, right?"

"Of course," Tails muttered, sounding slightly miffed as he rubbed his arm gingerly. Clapping the fox on the shoulder, Rouge jumped into the air, unfurling her wings as she did so, and she rocketed upwards as fast as she could, unable to keep an exhilarated smile from spreading across her face.

_So what if a maniacal goddess is trying to kill us? _she thought, her teeth glinting in the moonlight. _This is funner than stealing a Chaos Emerald!_

Tails squinted slightly, trying to see through the thick white clouds that had rolled across the sky above them, bracing himself to break through them. He heard Rouge gasp in surprise at the sudden wetness, shocked at the cold and sheer amount of it. It took them less than four seconds to break free of it, but when they emerged, they were both wetter than they had been when the massive wall of water had hit them.

"Stop!" Rouge cried, but Tails did not need the warning; the sight before him would have been bizarre enough to halt a charging rhinoceros. Cream and Cheese were before them, trapped inside a swirling, translucent silver bubble of air, their faces blank, unknowing. Cheese was sitting upon Cream's shoulder, as motionless as a doll.

For a moment, he and Rouge merely hovered there, their wings and tails flapping behind them in attempt to keep them airborne, and then Tails broke the silence with a puzzled murmur of, "So what, do we just have to touch them?"

Rouge shrugged, for neither of them knew how Sonic and Cosmo had managed to free them, and then the bat reached one gloved hand outwards, evidently intending to pull the duo free-

But when her fingers were an inch from the bubble's surface, a chorus of keening, mournful caws sounded from behind them, uneartheal, bone-chilling sounds that no Mobian could make. As one, Tails and Rouge whirled around, their breath catching in their throats as they registered the beings before them. They were birds, dozens of them, jewel bright and roughly the same size as eagles, with razor sharp talons and cruel, scythe-like blades that would easily impale either of them.

"What the -?" Tails shouted, but that was as far as he got, for the flock suddenly sprinted through the air, streamlining themselves so that they were no more distinct than feathery-handled daggers. Shouting in alarm, Tails rocketed upwards and out of the flock's way, while Rouge plummeted downwards to avoid them. The birds screeched in outrage and parted to avoid Cream and Cheese's prison, flapping their wings furiously to slow their flight, while Rouge and Tails regrouped, their sides pressing together, both breathing heavily.

"Where the hell did they come from?" Tails shouted in panic, and Rouge let out a note of mirthless laughter.

"I don't know, but you can bet that they aren't the welcoming committee," the bat responded, but they had no more time for sarcastic comments, for the flock of birds were coming at them again, stretching out into a brightly coloured wall of death. With a cry of alarm, Tails dove out of harm's way, Rouge a black streak at his side, but they pulled out of their dives immediately, fearing that the birds had been intending for them to do something like that, and it proved to be a wise decision. Uttering loud, blood-chilling shrieks, the flock curved sharply, taking on a V formation, and without warning, they mutated, bursting into flames while each member grew two times larger than before, fangs protruding from their hooked beaks. Tails tried to throw himself out of harm's way, but he was not fast enough; the flock was upon them, cawing angrily, and the world was a chaotic mass of flames, feathers and gouging beaks and talons. Though they were not burned alive, the fowls scratched and dug into his and Rouge's arms, slashing every bit of them they could reach, and the pair howled in pain, throwing their arms above their heads, trying to simultaneously protect their eyes and beat off their attackers. In a fit of panic, Tails screamed as shrilly as he could, and to his utmost surprise, the mass of birds howled angrily and streaked away from them, hissing and shrieking, clearly in pain.

_Annoying little bastards, that's all you are, _Tails thought grimly, noting the bird's sensitivity to sound. He flipped open his comlink and punched in the words 'Sound Frequency Ten', and immediately, the air was rent apart by a shrill, piercing outbreak of sound. The block of birds screeched in agony, and the flames around their feathery forms flickered; clearly, their power was waning. Beside him, Rouge groaned, her hands clamped over her ears, eyes clenched shut.

"Turn that piece of crap off!" she hissed, sounding pained, and Tails, remembering that Rouge had super sensitive hearing, cancelled out the noise, much to the bat's relief.

"Sorry!" he shouted, waving a hand frantically through the air. "I forgot!"

"Yeah?" Rouge muttered through gritted teeth, removing her hands from her ears. "Imagine that."

The birds, it seemed, had not recovered as fast as Rouge had; they emitted angry, pained caws ever so often, and were swerving in and out in a chaotic formation, clawing at their fellows who were in their way. Glowing emerald blood spouted from the flock like rainwater, and Tails stared at the chaos for a moment in puzzlement, before a plan formed itself in his mind.

"Rouge, get to Cream and Cheese!" he shouted, flipping open his comlink and typing on it furiously, feeling the bat's laser-like gaze boring into the back of his head. "Get them out, whatever you have to do, and I'll cover for you!"

"You got it, kiddo," Rouge muttered, and then she streaked through the air, streamlining her form as she rocketed towards their imprisoned friends. The moment they saw what she was attempting to do, the birds stopped fighting amongst each other and rocketed after her, but Tails was ready for them; pummelling the 'Enter' button on his comlink, he sent a beam of concentrated, plasmatic blue energy sprinting towards the bird in the lead, and the moment it connected, the bird exploded in a mass of electric green feathers.

Grinning savagely, Tails set about smiting down every fowl in his reach, his eyes narrowed with concentration, grunting and twitching as he automatically tensed in preparation to execute moves he would have made had he been at close quarters. _I should be getting a trophy for this, _he thought to himself as he scanned the swirling buffet of feathers and other less tasteful bird body parts for any stragglers. Unable to see any, he relaxed, and as everyone knows, relaxing when staring danger straight in the face is perhaps the dumbest thing one could do.

A gleaming onyx bird suddenly streaked through the mass of feathers, making a beeline for Rouge, who had just succeeded in freeing Cream and Cheese from their prison.

"NO!" Tails yelled, but it was too late; the bird tore straight through Rouge's right wing, the sound more horrible than one could describe, comparable only to rice paper being ripped to shreds. Rouge let out a piercing scream of pain as the monster tore through the membrane and plummeted downwards, toppling helplessly end over end and out of sight. Cream and Cheese followed, still unconscious, their limbs flailing limply out behind them as they too tumbled through the cloud cover.

The air seemed to pulse, and for a moment, time passed in slow motion; during that extended second, a sort of chemical reaction took place inside the fox, and chemical energy exploded out of his heart in the form of adrenaline. With a wordless roar, Tails tore after his fallen friends, eyes narrowing to slits, barely noticing as he streaked through the cloud cover, and in less than two seconds he was free of it, tearing after the spiralling forms that were Cream, Cheese and Rouge.

Cream and Cheese were closer, as they were both lighter and gravity had less of a pull upon them. Tails narrowed his eyes and stretched one hand out towards his falling friends, groping for Cream's limp flailing hand, cursing at her being unconscious.

_Dammit, I won't let them die this way! _Tails thought savagely, and with that thought, he reached out and took Cream's gloved hand securely in his own, while he caught Cheese's tiny form securely against his chest. The moment he had her, Cream trailed out behind him, like a doll being dragged behind an impatient toddler. Tails had no time for comic interpretations, however, for his attention was focused solely on Rouge now.

She was tumbling helplessly end over end, her injured wing trailing a thick stream of crimson, other wing flapping in a useless attempt to slow her fall. Probably against her better judgement, the bat was screaming, a high-pitched sound of utmost terror, and it wrenched at Tails' heart to hear such a thing.

"TAILS!" cried Rouge, her earthy brown eyes huge as she spotted him, and Tails bared his teeth in concentration, reaching out his free hand towards her, though he was not close enough to grab her own gloved hand-

The ground was terrifyingly close now, an endless expanse of rolling green hills turned black by the night, hard, unforgiving, and oblivious to how much devastation it would cause if it claimed their lives. Sonic's dark blue dot, and Cosmo's jade one, were visible now, but if they were speaking, Tails could not hear it. All the sound seemed to have been sucked out of the world, gone out of respect for the intensity of the moment. The air seemed to pulse, and in that split second, Tails' bright blue eyes met Rouge's earthy brown ones, and resolve exploded out of his chest in a savage cry. With a burst of speed, Tails crossed the remaining distance between them and grasped Rouge's wrist as tightly as he could. The bat gave a little "Oh!" as if in surprise, and then her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped into a dead faint.

Truly alone now, Tails turned his attention to the next problem; how to stay alive. Sonic and Cosmo were both shouting unintelligibly, whether friendly or not he could not tell, but one thing was for certain; he would not be able to lose enough of their speed in time for them to land beside their friends. Grinding his teeth together, Tails used the last of his remaining strength and eased out of his reckless nose-dive, pulling his unconscious friends behind him. Very gradually, he allowed himself to fly downwards, like a plane coming in for landing, and after several minutes, he managed to lose enough of their impossible speed in time for them to attempt a landing. But even so, the impact was brutal; all the air rushed from his lungs as hit he hit the ground like a sack of bricks colliding with pavement. Gasping from pain and for air, Tails skidded face-first across the grass, dragging Cream, Cheese and Rouge behind him as he formed a deep skid mark in the ground. Several seconds later he came to a halt, half-buried in dirt, and though his head was pounding, though he was a bloodied and battered mess, Tails knew he could not allow himself to rest yet; he knew that, unless he acted quickly, Rouge would never fly again.

Coughing blood, he sat up and shook the dirt from his eyes, ignoring the blinding pain that built up inside his head as he did so, and with shaking fingers he flipped open his comlink and typed in 'Super Heal'.

The world was lost in a flash of deepest purple light, and Tails felt all but his exhaustion leave him. With a little sigh of relief, he fell back against the ground, Rouge and Cream's hands still clasped in his own.

_I really should be getting a trophy for this,_ the fox thought, then slipped into blackness.

"CREAM! CHEESE! ROUGE! _NOOO!" _roared Sonic, his eyes fixed upon the horrific events unfolding above him, never wishing that he could fly more than he was now. Out of the clouds tumbled Rouge, tumbling end over end, incapacitated or worse. Even from the extreme distance between them, Sonic could see moon bathed blood trailing from her form, and he was certain that at least one of her wings were injured. He could hear her shrill screams renting the tense silence apart like a knife slicing through butter, each one sending a painful jolt of helplessness running through him.

Cream was tumbling after the bat, as was Cheese, though he couldn't be certain because he could not see the Chao. There was a certain limp unknowingness about the rabbit that Rouge did not possess, and just the fact that she was not screaming in terror seemed suspicious to Sonic. In fact, he was almost certain that she was unconscious.

"Oh no, oh no!" Cosmo was whispering, her bright blue eyes following their friends' progress, reflecting the sky like glassy orbs. "Where's – _TAILS!"_

For Tails had just plummeted out of the cloud cover, no more distinct than a yellow-white blur. He alone seemed to be unharmed, clearly having dodged whatever peril Illumina had sent their way in the sky. The hope that inflated inside of Sonic was shattered, however, as he realized just how impossible saving both Rouge, Cream and Cheese was; Tails was not fast enough to catch all three of them before they landed, they were falling too fast, he was either going to have to save himself, or die trying to save everybody-

"LOOK! _LOOK!" _Cosmo screamed suddenly, flapping one hand hysterically through the air while jumping up and down, her other hand pointing up at the sky, just in case Sonic, for whatever reason, was not watching. Tails had, incredibly, seized Cream's hand and had put on an incredible burst of speed, reaching his free hand out towards Rouge, who extended one of her own, so close were they now that Sonic could see the panic etched upon the thief's face, and the concentration upon Tails'-

The air seemed to pulse, and an electric current passed over Sonic's body, filing him with tension. Mobius seemed to hold its breath as Tails groped through thin air, trying desperately to reach Rouge's hand, but then Sonic rent the silence apart as he saw the fox grab Rouge's hand, roaring, "YES!"

"HE DID IT! TAILS DID IT!" screamed Cosmo, all dignity forgotten, leaping up and down like a maniac, doing a little celebratory jig.

Smiling hugely, Sonic seized Cosmo and swung her around and around, dizzy with his own relief. Tails had done it, he had gotten to Rouge and Cream before they hit the ground, he had – crash landed? Sonic froze, letting Cosmo slip through his arms, the smile freezing upon his face as he saw his friends slam into the ground some six hundred meters away.

_No._

In his haste to reach them, Sonic forgot to sling Cosmo onto his back; taking off with a supersonic boom, he sprinted towards the place where Tails had crashed, his heart racing his feet, mouth completely dry, the only sound his pulse in his ears. They were not dead, they had not come all this way just to be defeated by something as mortal as a crash landing, it could not, would not be true-

When he was ten strides away, a flash of deepest purple light rent the air, and he thought that Illumina must have gotten there first, but then the light cleared, and he saw Tails slump back against the ground, his chest rising and falling slowly. Recognizing the flash as Super Heal, Sonic skidded to a halt just before his friends, pulling Tails and Rouge out of the dirt, relief coursing through him. Just to be safe, he seized Tails' wrist and waited anxiously for the feel of a pulse, which presented itself immediately, strong but elevated from stress. Sighing with relief, he let the fox's arm drop and turned his attention to Rouge, who had been, quite possibly, mortally injured.

He scanned the bat's motionless form, probing it for a sign of injury, alighting instantly upon her right wing. It was caked in dirt and blood, the latter gleaming wetly, but there was no sign of an open wound. Knowing that Tails' quick thinking had probably saved the bat's thieving career, he pressed an ear to her chest, a grateful smile spreading across his face when he heard her heartbeat.

Sidestepping Rouge, he knelt at Cream's side, who was sprawled face-first in the dirt, Cheese by her side. Rolling her onto her back, Sonic leaned close to her chest, straining to hear the sounds of her healthy heartbeat.

There wasn't one.

Eyes widening in panic, Sonic unceremoniously grabbed Cheese up in his arms like one would a doll and slammed him against his ear, a sickening pulse of fear coursing through him when he did not hear the sound of the little Chao's heartbeat. He let the creature slip out of his grip, staring unseeingly out towards the distant mountains, drowning in an endless ocean of despair. To see Cream and Cheese being struck down by Doom and his siblings back outside Eggman's base was horrible, revolting. Now, to be kneeling at the place where they should have been returned to life, to be standing over their dead bodies, was like losing them all over again.

"What's – happening?" Cosmo gasped, panting heavily as she staggered to a halt at his side, a disgruntled expression upon her face. "I-is everyone...is T-Tails -?"

"Tails is fine," Sonic muttered, turning to face the Seedrian, his voice dead, hollow, and as he opened his mouth to deliver the bad news to Cosmo, the amulet fixed upon her chest glowed brightly and two orbs of light melted out of it, one pastel blue, the other creamy white. They drifted lazily through the air to hover above their respective owners' chests, pulsating like strange hearts, and then shot downwards, disappearing directly over their hearts.

Cream and Cheese both heaved in deep, momentous breaths, and then collapsed upon the ground, their chests rising and falling evenly. Sonic and Cosmo knelt on either side of the rabbit, their eyes huge as Cream's soft brown eyes fluttered open. For a moment, she stared bemusedly up at the starry sky, then tilted her head up off the ground to look at Cheese, who was lying upon her chest, and whispered, "Where are we, Cheese?"

Then she spotted Sonic and Cosmo, and her eyes widened in shock, shock that was instantly dispelled by utmost happiness. "Sonic! Cosmo! Oh, I'm so glad to see you again!" squealed the rabbit in her high-pitched, pre-schooler voice. She allowed Sonic to pull her to her feet, Cheese hovering happily at her shoulder, but the beaming silence was broken apart by Cosmo's choked whisper of, "What's wrong with Tails and Rouge?"

Sonic looked around, and his heart faltered; he had been expecting his other friends to wake up almost immediately after their crash-landing, but they were still lying collapsed upon the places where they had landed, as pale as the dead.

To his relief – and surprise – Cream calmed his fears. "You were like that too, Sonic, when Rouge pulled you out of Eggman's machine. They'll wake up soon."

"Thank you, Cream," Cosmo murmured, the tension melting from her face. The trio stood there for a moment, at a loss for what to say, but Cream broke it once more by saying, "Where are Amy and Knuckles?"

Sonic and Cosmo exchanged significant looks, both unsure whether or not to tell the rabbit the truth, but he decided it would be best to be straight up, and so he responded as truthfully as he dared. "We're going to find them right now, Cream," he told the pre-schooler, puzzled at the unusually solemn expression upon her face. "Just as soon as-"

He was cut off by a pained groan from Rouge, and all three of them spun around to see the bat struggling upright, her eyes unusually alert. "Hiya, Sonic," she groaned, her voice hoarse from the screaming, stretching her arms out as she clambered to her feet. "Thanks for all the help up there."

"He couldn't –" Cosmo began to object, but stopped when she saw the smirk upon Rouge's face. "Oh ha-ha," she muttered, rolling her eyes. "Very _witty."_

Rouge opened her mouth to retort, but Sonic interrupted before the conversation could morph into an all-out brawl, something he sensed was not far away. "Cream," he said hastily, turning to the rabbit. "Can you stay beside Tails and tell us when he wakes up? We need to talk about something."

"Sure thing," Cream nodded, then plopped herself on the ground beside the unconscious fox, humming to herself. Sonic turned and led Rouge and Cosmo a short distance away from her, sensing the other two exchanging unamused looks between themselves behind his back. When he turned around to face them, however, their expressions were completely neutral.

"What are we going to do with her?" he hissed, nodding jerkily at Cream. Rouge and Cosmo both offered their opinions at the same time.

"We aren't running a daycare," Rouge hissed, rolling her eyes at the very prospect. "She's just a squirt. She'll only get in the way, and with our luck, that fairy princess will decide to kidnap her. I say we dump her somewhere and get back to looking for the others."

Cosmo took the more serious outlook. "I think we should take her with us," murmured the Seedrian, her piercing blue eyes far away. "I don't think she'd be safe by herself, even if she was at Tails' workshop. I wouldn't put it past Illumina to attempt a kidnap, and that's the last thing we need at the moment."

Sonic stood in silence for a moment, then realized that both girls were waiting for _him _to make a decision, which was hard enough, because he agreed with both of them. Rouge was right in saying that Cream would only get in the way, for the rabbit was handicapped by her age and inexperience, which was the reason why he had denied her the opportunity to be a part of their team in the past, let alone bringing her with them to face off with a murderous entity from an alternate universe. Cosmo, however, was right in thinking that Cream would be unsafe by herself; even taking her to Vanilla's wouldn't be the brightest idea, because her mother was not much of a fighter, not to mention that she lived two days' journey away.

"I think," he began slowly, avoiding both girls' gaze. "That we're going to have to take her with us." At this, Cosmo nodded in approval, while Rouge rolled her eyes, growled, "Whatever," and stalked off in the other direction. The somewhat awkward silence was broken, however, by Cream's shrill cry of, "Hiya, Tails!"

Both Sonic and Cosmo whirled around, and saw that Tails was getting groggily to his feet, shaking his head almost experimentally. Cosmo sprinted forwards and threw her arms around the fox, hugging him tightly, and Sonic followed somewhat slower, clapping a hand upon the fox's back when Cosmo had disentangled herself from him.

"Nice work, Tails," he commented, and the mechanic grinned sheepishly. "What happened up there?"

"Well," he began, looking slightly shell-shocked. "We tried to pull Cream and Cheese out of this bubble, but then we were attacked by these birds, and they weren't your everyday seagulls, lemme tell you that much," he added, when Sonic and Cosmo exchanged unimpressed looks. "They set themselves on fire and then they started mauling us, but in the end, Rouge broke free and went to free Cream while I covered for her, and –"

"You missed one, by the way," Rouge interrupted, sounding unimpressed as she stalked over to stand beside Sonic, tapping her right wing irritably. Tails went bright red and opened his mouth to offer some sort of apology, then let it snap closed when he failed to think of one.

Rouge tossed her head, then took up the story where Tails had broken off. "When I touched their prison, everything went white, and then that girl appeared, whatshername, Lumina, and she told me this stupid riddle. I got it in the end, it was 'selfish' and then my head sort of cleared.

"I saw these two-" she jerked a thumb in Cream and Cheese's direction. "Fall out of their bubble, and then the next thing I know, something's torn through my wing, you wouldn't believe how much that hurt, and then I was falling...

"I guess Tails here felt bad about his slip up, 'cause he grabbed my hand to stop me from falling, but then everything's blank until just now." Rouge winked and punched Tails on the shoulder a little harder than strictly necessary, laughing when the fox winced and shrank away from her.

"Okay, that's enough," Cosmo snapped sharply, causing Rouge's smirk to widen. The Seedrian flipped open her comlink and conjured up the holographic model of Mobius, disappearing behind a matrix of lasers. Only two orange dots were left, pulsating relatively far away from both their current location and each other.

"Looks like we're headed to Sienna Forest, guys," Tails informed the group of large, and Cosmo made the holograph vanish. All the jovialness in the air vanished as the seriousness of the situation set in. Rouge nodded wordlessly and leapt into the air, streaking overhead, clearly revelling in the repairation of her wing. Sonic watched her go, then, deciding that she would be okay, turned his attention to Cream.

"You don't mind if Tails carries you, do you, Cream?" he asked kindly, and the rabbit's face lit up at the prospect.

"Sure!" she cried, bouncing up and down with excitement, clapping her hands delightedly together. Tails grimaced at Sonic, then swept the rabbit up off her feet and leapt into the air, Cheese streaking along behind him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Sonic caught sight of Cosmo's expression, and was slightly unnerved to see the hostility upon her normally serene face. She maintained an icy silence when she climbed up upon his back, and he could practically feel the accusation rolling off of her, cutting into him like flaming knives.

"Err, Cosmo," he began, hardly able to muster up enough resolve to broach the subject, let alone twist around to look at her. "Well...about Cream...she's...well, it's just that she's six years old. It's – well, she's just got a little crush on Tails, it'll pass, and anyway, she gets that he doesn't really -"

"Thank you, Sonic," Cosmo murmured, and he was relieved to hear that her hardness had vanished, and even more so at being spared finishing his sentence. "That was my fault, I understand completely, I shouldn't have...well, it's just jealousy, you know, I'm sure you understand, what with Amy and -"

She broke off very suddenly, and silence settled over them like an icy fog once more. In a very small voice, Cosmo whispered, "Sorry," but Sonic did not hear her; his mind had long since left Mobius, wrapped up in the Seedrian's words.

_I'm not mad at you, Cosmo, _he thought, and he really meant it; it was not Cosmo's fault that he felt the way he did about Amy. _And I know exactly how you feel, at least, now I do, now that I've got everything figured out..._

For the sake of his sanity, he shifted his focus from his feelings to who he hoped would be waiting for them in Sienna Forest. To his shame, his heart seemed to be triumphing over his brain once again, and he realized that, as it had been ever since her death, he was yearning for the sight of Amy trapped inside a brightly coloured crystal.

_But, _a voice in his head argued. _Knuckles is one of your best friends, not to mention a superb fighter. And the gods know we need a fighter right now, what with Illumina trying to screw us up..._

_And I bet that if Amy _is _in Sienna Forest, I'll be so distracted that I won't be able to concentrate on freeing Knuckles at the last hiding place, _he thought, in attempt to convince himself that he would be happy to find Knuckles next. _There are pros and cons to finding either of them._

Sienna Forest was coming into view, a vast, pointed black, blanket-like mass that stretched out in both directions. The moonlight leeched the evergreen trees of all colour, dying them inky black, and a silvery fog hovered at its base, whether magical or not he did not know. Somewhere in its depths were one of his friends, and Sonic realized that he did not care who was waiting for him, as long as it was not Illumina.

He rocketed to a halt at the edge of the mist, and Cosmo immediately slid off of his back. The awkwardness between them had still not lifted, but Sonic did his best to vanquish it by smiling reassuringly at her. Cosmo returned it gratefully, her bright blue eyes shining with empathy.

"We're going to be alright, Sonic," she murmured, clasping one of his hands in both of hers. "We'll find Amy, and Illumina _will _pay."

"Excuse me while I get a tissue," came Rouge's voice, emanating out of the darkness above them. Sonic looked up just in time to see the bat land beside them, her custom smirk upon her face. He rolled his eyes at her, and she stuck her tongue out at him in childish retaliation.

Cosmo seemed unsure whether or not she were to laugh or intervene, but was spared making the decision by the arrival of Cream, Cheese and Tails, and Sonic thought he saw a satisfied smile playing about her lips as she took in Tails' disgruntled expression.

"Thanks so much, Tails!" gushed Cream, smiling happily up at the fox. "Can we do that again?"

"I don't know, let's save the world first," Tails grunted back, looking thoroughly hassled.

"Alright," Sonic said, and everyone's eyes flickered to his face. "Listen up; no one knows what's waiting for us in there, so we'd better stick together. Keep as quiet as you can. No matter what, don't split up; you can be sure that it'll be the last thing any of us ever does."

The ominous pronunciation was enough to make the silence that had fallen upon their group seem ten times sinister than usual, and coupled with the tension of the situation, Sonic couldn't help but shuffle his feet nervously. "I'm on point," he stated, then cast his gaze towards Rouge. "You've got rear?"

Rouge winked, cocky as ever. "Sure thing."

"Then let's get going," Sonic breathed, creeping forwards. The others followed him silently, and one of the girls gasped as they broke through the mist. It was as cold as ice, as insubstantial as air, and within seconds his lower half – and in Cream's case, everything below her neck – was drenched. The moment they crossed the boundary between the mist and the edge of the forest, the moonlight vanished, plunging their group into utter blackness. It was all Sonic could do not to trip over the ample amount of roots, and the hairs at the back of his neck stood up on end as he listened to the hoots, growls and screeches of invisible animals that sounded from all around them. As always when attempting a rescue mission, he felt as though they were being watched.

A feline growl sounded from the trees above them, and though it shouldn't have been any different from the others, it was; there was something unnerving about it, an eerie, alien quality that the other animals did not possess, and it was so out of place that he came to a halt, throwing his arm out to stop the person behind him from continuing on.

"Did you hear that?" hissed Tails from somewhere behind Sonic, and both he and Rouge snarled, "Quiet!"

Sonic stared into the absolute blackness before him, squinting slightly, attempting to penetrate its depths, his instincts screaming for him to run. Suddenly, the sound of something either very large or very heavy – or perhaps both – landing upon the ground sounded from in front of him, accompanied by a low rumbling feline snarl, and then, a pair of slanting, blood red eyes, glowing like Cosmo's amulet, blinked into existence, inches from his face.

Cream screamed in terror, while both Tails and Rouge swore spectacularly. "RUN!" Sonic shouted, and he took off like a bullet towards his left, while the unknown creature snarled in outrage and, after a brief hesitation, tore after him.

He could hear someone's laboured breathing sounding from behind him, familiar enough to tell him that it was not the girl named Epona, but not loud enough to indicate that their entire group remained intact. _So much for staying together, _he cursed, casting a glance over his shoulder to see Rouge sprinting after him, the strain of keeping up with him etched upon her face; clearly, the trees were set too closely together for her to attempt to fly.

_Just great!_ Sonic thought angrily, turning back around, only to skid to a halt and sprint to his right, for two more sets of eyes had appeared before him, their owners unleashing savage snarls that belonged to big cats. The thought of Tails, Cream, Cheese and Cosmo running around a pitch black forest while being chased by blood thirsty cats was enough to make him feel sick to his stomach, let alone the prospect that they had not managed to stick together.

He twisted and weaved, barely able to see three meters in front of himself, leaping over shrubs and ducking under vines. Out of respect for Rouge, he did not dare run his fastest, but it was a sacrifice that was almost too great to make, for their pursuers were unfortunately fast and unnervingly agile, able to keep close enough to him and Rouge that he could smell their hot, rancid breath.

_Just do it! _he told himself, gritting his teeth with indecision, tormented by what Rouge would say if he did what he knew must be done. Deciding that it would be best to do it as fast as possible, he twisted around, swept Rouge off her feet and turned back around, carrying her bridal style as he sprinted through the forest, finally able to go as fast as he could.

"_Oooh!" _Rouge purred, her voice infuriatingly suggestive.

"Don't get any ideas," Sonic warned her, but she only chuckled maddeningly. Despite this, he was unable to keep an exhilarated smile from his face; the cats had been left behind in the dust, unable to compete with the speed of sound, and the thrill of the chase, of the impossible speed he was running at, coupled with a challenge, was enough to make anyone smile.

His enjoyment was marred, however, by the absence of the rest of his group; Sonic knew that the only way they would be able to find each other was to either crash into them or for them both to locate Amy or Knuckles; comlinks were useless in this situation, for what could you tell the other person? I'm surrounded by trees and blackness. Yeah, that'd help.

And then he saw it; gradually slinking into view up ahead was a cyan glow, emanating from what Sonic suspected was the second last crystal. His eyes widening, Sonic pushed himself faster, finally able to see where he was going, twisting and dodging and ducking as he sprinted forwards at a chaotic pace, so fast that Rouge's infuriating smile had finally been wiped off her face.

His subconsciousness, however, was reeling, having realized that, as impossible as it seemed, he and Rouge were being herded like sheep, driven towards the crystal, which, though they thought it was where they wanted to be, it was, in fact, the very place the _cats _wanted them to be. And whatever place they wanted them to be – or more accurately, the ones controlling them – was definitely not one Sonic wanted to be. His subconsciousness screamed and writhed, trying unsuccessfully to warn him about what he was about to do, but his mind was so focused upon the prospect of freeing one more friend, of meeting up with Tails and the others – for they would obviously be drawn to the same spot by the glow – drowned out all else.

The glow grew brighter and brighter until it was bordering on blinding, and then he had run out into the edge of a large circular clearing. Sonic hurtled to a fluent stop, immediately setting Rouge on his feet. The circle was deserted, albeit for themselves; there was no Epona, no Illumina, no slinking, shadowy big cats or Tails or Cosmo. There was, however, Knuckles, suspended inside a cyan crystal identical to Rouge and Tails', his head bowed, arms limp at his sides.

"Knuckles," breathed Rouge, taking a step forwards, her earthy brown eyes reflecting the echidna's prison. Sonic threw out an arm to caution her, his mind snapping away from the joy of finding another friend to the very real possibility that this might all be a trap.

"Be careful," he hissed, and Rouge, sober for once, nodded slowly. For a moment they stared at each other, and then, without a visible signal, they sprinted forwards, Sonic on land, Rouge in the air, their gaze fixed upon their imprisoned friend. Streaking forwards just below the speed of sound, Sonic had barely five meters to go when, almost predictably, something happened to delay him.

With a noise like a whip crack, a thick, dark green vine exploded out of the ground beneath him, binding him tightly around the waist. With an alarmed yell, Sonic fell flat on his face, and four other vines exploded out of the ground, binding him around the wrists and ankles, but before he could think, before he could breathe, he was yanked harshly into the air, the vine tightening around his torso, crushing the air from his lungs. Choking and spluttering, Sonic looked around when he heard Rouge swear angrily, and saw to his dismay that she, like him, had been similarly bound, and she writhed and twisted, hissing ferally, digging her fingers into the steely creeper binding her.

"Damn it!" Sonic hissed, followed by a stream of unprintable swearwords. It was impossibly cruel to be so close, yet so far, to Knuckles when he was so close that he could practically reach out and touch him. Grinding his teeth together, Sonic mustered all of his strength and his right arm towards his face, his muscles screaming in protest to the strain of what his was trying to do. He opened his mouth and bit into the creeper, but to his dismay, he found that it was as hard as steel and, with a snarl of surprise, he relaxed slightly, and with a painful snap, the vine yanked his arm out of biting distance.

He was distracted from the humility of the situation by the appearance of Cosmo, Cream and Cheese, all of them looking exhausted as they staggered into view. Their eyes widened in wonder when they saw Knuckles frozen before them, and their mouths dropped open into synchronized 'o's of horror when they saw Sonic and Rouge suspended behind the echidna.

"LOOK OUT!" Sonic shouted, but it was too late; in less than two seconds, Cosmo, Cream and Cheese had all been seized by identical vines and hoisted into the air, the three them screaming in terror.

"What's happening?" Cream wailed, tears pouring down her cheeks.

"What does it look like?" snapped Rouge, evidently having run out of patience. "We walked into a trap!"

"Where's Tails?" Sonic yelled, staring at Cosmo, panic etched upon his face. Cosmo, attempting to pry the vine off of her torso, looked up at him with some difficulty, her face contorted with pain.

"I don't know!" she cried, sounding utterly distraught. "He was just behind us, but now -"

"TAILS!" Sonic yelled, cutting across her, his fears confirmed. "TAILS, DON'T FOLLOW THE LIGHT!"

"DON'T COME INTO THE CLEARING!" screamed Cosmo, her voice shrill. "IT'S A TRA -"

But the rest of her sentence was cut off by a choked gurgle, one that was mirrored by Sonic, for two smaller vines had just erupted out of the ground and bound themselves around both his and Cosmo's mouths, effectively gagging them. Rouge and Cream immediately took their places, shouting urgent warnings, but they were instantly silenced.

The five of them hung there, suspended fifteen feet off the ground, gagged and immobile, all of them shouting inaudible, muffled warnings to Tails, who was lost or worse-

But then, to everyone's shock, the fox streaked out of the trees at the edge of the clearing, fury and determination etched upon his face. Everyone uttered muffled shouts of jubilation at his appearance, shouts that were just as quickly stifled when they realized that his attempt was futile; the moment he landed sprawled upon the top of the crystal, harsh cracks rent the air and several creepers exploded out of the ground, wrapping themselves around his lower half. To Sonic's bewilderment, however, they did not seem to be able to wrench him free; no matter how hard they pulled, no matter how violent they writhed, Tails' upper half did not come away. The group lapsed into tense silence as they watched Tails, who was lying completely motionless atop the crystal, his face expressionless, eyes shut as he faced whatever challenged Lumina had in store for him. In less than a minute, however, his eyes snapped open, and the vines screeched in triumph as they succeeded in wrenching him apart from the fading cyan crystal.

Surprisingly, Tails seemed aware of his predicament; he twisted around and directed his comlink at the vine binding him, shouting, "Laser beam, five second burst!"

Immediately, a concentrated beam of blinding white energy erupted out of the little yellow device, slicing easily through the vines. Even as he fell, Tails directed his comlink in a sharp slash, easily slicing through the vines binding Sonic, Rouge, Cosmo, Cream and Cheese.

"Yes!" Sonic hissed, as his bindings fell away. Twisting upright, he landed heavily on his feet, while both Cosmo and Rouge sprinted past him, heading straight for Knuckles. Tails, looking slightly confused, stared at Cosmo in bewilderment, until an orb of ruby red light melted out of her amulet and shot into Knuckles' motionless chest.

Immediately, the echidna's chest heaved with life, and his dark purple eyes flickered open to stare bewilderedly up into Rouge's face. "R-Rouge?" he stammered, disoriented.

Rouge smiled at the sound of her name, and as she pulled Knuckles to his feet, she murmured, "Hiya, Knucky."

Sonic and Tails both mimed vomiting, and Cosmo snorted with laughter. Knuckles threw the three of them poisonous looks, an expression that vanished just as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by one of utmost horror. Sonic immediately sobered up and followed the echidna's gaze, which he almost instantly regretted; eight inky black jaguars were lined up before them, their slanting red eyes narrowed to slits, the hair on their backs standing on end as they unleashed terrific snarls. In front of the cats stood Epona, her seaweed green hair floating down around her in the faint breeze, her eyes still concealed, still wearing the same infuriatingly smug smile.

"You!" Rouge snarled, her voice as enraged as the snarls the jaguars were making. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I will not give you another warning, bat," spat Epona, her feline voice as smug as her expression. "I have told you, again and again, that this is not your fight. You would do better to leave now, to -"

"Oh yeah, and you'll just let me skip off into the sunset, will ya?" Rouge retorted, sounding disdainful, and Knuckles shot her an appreciative look. "You know what, I think I'll stay put. I'd much rather sink my teeth into your throat, anyways."

At this, Epona let out an outraged snarl, and in a swish of her dress she was gone reappearing instantly in front of Rouge, lashing out in a crushing punch that was so fast that the bat only dodged it by throwing herself down to the ground, her breath catching in her throat.

Knuckles snarled in fury and threw himself forwards, swiping angrily through the air, aiming for Epona's head, but with a snarl of mirthless laughter the Maginaire skipped out of harms' way and retaliated in a sharp twist kick that caught Knuckles painfully under the chin, causing him to stagger backwards, growling in pain.

By this time, Rouge had gotten to her feet, and with a savage growl she threw herself at Epona, and a brawl so viciously high-paced began that the combatants' limbs appeared blurred; Sonic could not deny that Epona was an unfortunately skilled fighter, and wondered briefly if she did not have eyes at the back of her head. Her moves were perfectly timed and, had she managed to land any, would have been near fatal. She twisted and spun, her face contorted with furious concentration, kicking and punching and body slamming, always just managing to avoid Rouge's attacks, her own blows enhanced with magic.

Deciding that Rouge needed a hand, Sonic and Tails lunged forwards, joined almost instantly by Knuckles, and Epona, realizing that she was gravely outnumbered, let out a note of maddened laughter before she twirled on the spot and vanished once more, reappearing several feet in the air above them. Sonic let out a yell of surprise and threw himself to the side, but he was the only one who managed to do so in time; Epona aimed one pale hand at the ground beneath her and, with a noise like a laser beam being fired, unleashed a mass of plasmatic blue energy from it, which blasted Tails, Knuckles and Rouge off their feet, the three of them yelling in pain, jagged snakes of blue energy writhing around their forms.

"Nice trick," Sonic growled, his voice mocking, and Epona whirled around, a savage smile twisting her lips as she faced her opponent. "But let's see how you handle _this!"_

One the last word her flung himself forwards and punched Epona straight in the face, his blow so forceful that he felt her nose break. Both she and her jaguars roared in outrage, but Sonic did not have time to consider the cats, for Epona was retaliating, spinning like a demonic ballerina, kicking him hard in the stomach, but he managed to skip backwards out of harm's way just in time. He instantly retaliated with an uppercut punch, but Epona blocked this with her elbow and took a wild swipe at his head. Sonic ducked low and then extended one leg before spinning around, attempting to trip the Maginaire, but she jumped over his leg and unleashed a beam of the same plasmatic blue energy that she had at Knuckles and then others at him, forcing him to jump even higher than her, ascending ten feet into the air.

To his surprise, he felt a pair of thin arms wrap around his torso, and he looked around in alarm to see Cream holding him, her overlong ears spinning above her head like a propeller, eyes narrowed, face pained with the effort of keeping him in the air.

"Cream – what -?" Sonic began, but out of the corner of his eye he saw Tails hurl something towards the place where Rouge and Knuckles were battling with Epona's jaguars, while he shouted, "INCOMING!"

Immediately, Rouge leapt into the air, pulling Knuckles after him, and not a moment too soon; whatever Tails had thrown at the cats exploded in a deafening burst of flame, a mass of fiery orange that ballooned to fill half of the circular clearing. Epona's scream of fury was lost in the din of both the explosion and the howling snarls of the cats who were trapped inside the mass of flame, which faded into a mass of choking black smoke, revealing a now empty expanse of grass.

"Sonic, catch!" Rouge cried, tossing something at him. Sonic caught it reflexively, opening his hand to reveal the fake green Chaos Emerald. Grinning savagely, Sonic popped it into his mouth, and immediately, a sense of unrestrained power coursed through him, so that he was certain that, if he wanted he could have jumped to the moon and come back down to earth again in less than five seconds.

But jumping to the moon would not help him defeat Epona, and so, as Cream released him, he curled himself into a ball and shot towards Epona, while Rouge, Knuckles and Tails followed, as if in slow motion. He slammed into Epona's chest with crushing force, too fast with her to block, and with a scream of rage she was blasted backwards, rocketing towards Rouge, who shouted, "SPIN KICK!" and o

But Epona, it seemed had had enough; somehow, she managed to halt her progress through the air and, with a deranged scream, she drew her limbs into her chest and let them snap back into position, a motion that Sonic remembered that Void had often used, to just as devastating results; with a yell of pain, Rouge was blasted out of the air in a limp heap, her form jerking and twitching with sparks of violent purple energy. The bat crashed into a tree some thirty yards away with such force that the whole thing groaned and pelted the ground with needles.

"NOW YOU'RE MAKING ME ANGRY!" roared Knuckles, and he sprinted towards Epona, one fist drawn over his shoulder, his metallic knuckles glinting, murder on his face. With a furious bellow, he aimed a punch at the Maginaire's face, but, with shocking speed, she let out a mad cackle of laughter and caught his fist in one palm, using it as leverage to hoist her slim form into the air so that she could kick him hard in the chest.

"NO!" Sonic and Tails shouted in unison, as Knuckles was blasted backwards as bodily as Rouge was, his form cackling with electric purple energy, and he flew a full fifty feet until he landed with an almighty crash in a mass of thorny bushes.

Tails, who was closer to Epona, got there first, and he managed to land a harsh spinning kick in the back of her head. Under normal circumstances, his opponent would have fallen unconscious, but Epona merely staggered forwards, hissing angrily, and, with Herculean strength, she lifted Tails off his feet and threw him bodily into a tree.

_Of course, _Sonic thought, rolling his eyes as he realized that, once again, he was alone against a maniacal Maginaire. This one was clearly just as deranged as the others, for she let out a caw of insane laughter and dashed forwards to meet him, her hands glowing with orbs of lavender energy. Grunting with effort, Sonic leapt into the air, turning a somersault before landing on Epona's blind side, and he spun around in a twist kick, but Epona managed to dodge this by throwing herself onto the ground, the smile upon her face morphing into a surprised growl. Sonic blasted himself forwards, curled into a tight ball, but Epona crossed her arms in front of her face and Sonic hit what he could only describe as an invisible wall. His head ringing with pain, he unfurled himself from his coil and unleashed a series of punches so fast that Epona's entire form appeared blurred for the speed she was dodging at. She retaliated by trying to use the same move she had when she incapacitated Knuckles, but Sonic was ready for her; pulling sharply out of mid-punch, he heaved himself into a back flip, his feet connecting sharply with Epona's chin, and with a wild shriek of pain the Maginaire staggered backwards, spitting out a mouthful of blood.

Sonic landed heavily on his feet, and he looked around for Epona, sliding into a half crouch, growls ripping from his chest, but for a split second, he could not find her. Then, a scream of mingling terror and pain sounded from behind him, and Sonic spun around to see that the Maginaire had tackled Cosmo and, looking more catlike than ever, was mauling her, her fingers forming rigid claws that glowed with lavender energy as she savaged the Seedrian-

"Let her go!" squealed Cream, her face bright with fury as she sprinted forwards as fast as her short legs could carry her. "Stop it, you big meanie!" she threw herself upon Epona's back and pounded her with her tiny fists, punctuating each blow with an inarticulate cry of fury.

Sonic could have kicked himself; how had he forgotten about Cosmo and Cream? "CREAM, NO, DON'T!" he yelled, sprinting forwards, but he was too late; lightning fast, Epona had leapt off of Cosmo and spun around, one hand wrapping around Cream's throat, and Sonic could see them tightening as she hoisted the choking rabbit into the air, laughing demonically as she crushed the life from the helpless pre-schoolers lungs-

Sonic's rage was past words; with a bellow of utmost fury, he pulled a fist over his shoulder and threw himself forwards, driving it under Epona's outstretched arm and slamming it into her stomach. The blow was so forceful that the Maginaire was blasted off her feet, but Sonic was flying with her, the edges of his vision tinted red from rage, and in less than a second he had pinned Epona against a tree, holding her there by her throat.

Utterly shocked, Epona seemed to have forgotten her magic, for she clawed and pried and Sonic's tightening fingers, kicking desperately at his shin, spluttering and choking. Past reasoning, there was only one coherent thought in Sonic's head, and it was one that he voiced out loud, his voice no more than a low, menacing snarl.

"Now," he growled, and he was mildly surprised at the hatred in his voice. "Let's see what your eyes really look like."

With unnecessary force, he pinned the Maginaire's forehead against the tree, sweeping her curving green hair out of her face. Time seemed to freeze, during which Sonic glared into three pleading, endless onyx eyes that resembled the deepest parts of space, and then, with a burst of sound that would put a supernova to shame, Epona had vanished in a mass of violet light, leaving only an agonized scream behind her.


	25. Out of Time

Cosmo was pinching the bridge of her nose, trying without success to stem the flow of blood pouring out from it. _I can't think of a fitting punishment for that girl right now, _she thought bitterly, reaching out for her comlink, but then the world was rent apart by a flash of deepest purple light, accompanied by a scream of pain, and then she thought, _I guess I've found one._

Whirling around, the Seedrian emitted a gasp of shock when she saw Sonic, standing stock still with one hand pinning an invisible person to a tree. "Donic!" she cried, silently cursing when she realized her nose was broken. "Are you albight?"

Sonic immediately spun around, and his expression of self-disgust morphed into one of horror when he took in her blood-coated face. "Cosmo!" he gasped, crossing the distance between them in less than a second. "Shit, your face! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," she managed to say, pinching the bridge of her nose again. "Bud – de oders -"

Sonic had already gone, sprinting towards the place where Rouge had slammed against an evergreen tree. Cosmo staggered off towards where she knew Tails was lying slumped in a mass of bushes, each stride bringing with it a groan of pain from her abused muscles, but she put her suffering aside when she located Tails, a thin trickle of blood cascading down his forehead, his breathing laboured, shallow. Her eyes widening in panic, Cosmo seized the fox by the ankles and began to drag him out of the shrubbery, but no sooner had she disentangled him than Sonic appeared at her side, growling impatiently as he swung Tails over one shoulder, and she over the other, and dashed towards the center of the clearing, depositing the pair of them beside the unconscious Rouge and Knuckles. Cosmo opened her mouth to protest to being rendered useless like this, but then there was a flash of deepest purple light, and then pain in her nose was gone, as was the burning in her muscles.

"Thanks," she muttered, wiping the blood off of her face on the back of her hand. Sonic nodded, rolling back on the balls of his feet, anxiety etched upon his face as he stared down at their unconscious friends, but Cosmo doubted if he was registering what he was seeing; his mind was undoubtedly focused upon Amy, their final quest, and how she was imprisoned far away from her, like a sitting duck waiting for Illumina-

"Sonic!" Cosmo cried, her eyes snapping back into focus. "We've got to wake them up! We have no time to waste!"

Sonic nodded, then bent over Knuckles, shaking his shoulder roughly. Cream and Cheese wandered over and settled themselves beside Rouge, politely asking for her to wake up, and Cosmo sank down to her knees beside Tails, shaking his shoulder gently.

"Tails," she hissed, her eyes bright with anxiety as she slapped him gently on the cheek. "Tails, wake up, we've got to go!"

It took them several minutes to wake up the three of them, but eventually, everyone was alert, though Rouge had needed a minute to calm down after being woken up by 'an annoying squirt' as she had put it.

"Okay," Tails addressed the group at large, not looking up from his furious tapping on his comlink. "Amy is fifteen miles west and three miles north of where we are now. It looks like it's just open space, so we probably won't have to worry about getting separated again."

Sonic nodded, looking impatient to get going. "Rouge," he said, turning to face the bat. "Do you mind carrying Knuckles?"

"Not at all," purred Rouge, throwing Knuckles an angelic look, and Cosmo was forced to turn her back on the pair, her lips pressed tightly together to suppress her laughter.

"Can we play 'I Spy' again, Tails?" squealed Cream, tugging on Tails' elbow and jumping up and down with excitement.

"Maybe," Tails muttered, scooping Cream up and turning to look at Sonic and Cosmo over his shoulder. "More like, 'I Spy Knuckles and Rouge making out'."

At this, Sonic and Cosmo burst into laughter, causing Rouge to hiss angrily and leap into the air, Knuckles caught up in her arms. Their laughter only petered away when Tails, Cream and Cheese had become nothing more than black specks against the dawn sky, and then the seriousness of the situation set in once more, prompting Sonic to sling Cosmo over his shoulder and take off with a supersonic burst of sound, able to easily navigate the forest now that the sun was rising.

_Will we be too late? _Cosmo couldn't help but wonder, her hands clasped around Sonic's shoulder. _Will Illumina have already gotten to Amy? She's had plenty of time, and if Amy's who she's been after all along, what's to say the pair of them haven't been gone for hours? _Then, _Why is it that the person we need to save the most is always the last we get to?_

But Cosmo couldn't help but think that Lumina might have enchanted Amy's prison the most heavily, that the Maginaire had expected Illumina to go after her. _Perhaps Amy is more central to all this than we know, _Cosmo mused, her eyes sliding closed as she contemplated their situation. _But why, _why, _couldn't Lumina have told us everything we needed to know back in the Tornado?_

"Cosmo, check your comlink!" Sonic's urgent shout tore her from her thoughts, and, with a huge start, Cosmo was wrenched back to the present. With a gasp of alarm, she twisted her wrist around so that she could see her comlink's screen, and she was shocked to see that, after five minutes' impossibly fast sprinting, they were already halfway to their destination. At this rate, they would reach Amy in ten minutes, a journey that would take the others at least three times as long.

"We're halfway there, Sonic," she informed the hedgehog, who merely nodded, clearly too stressed to talk.

_I can't imagine what he's going through right now, _Cosmo thought, casting a sorrowful look at the back of Sonic's head. _Well, actually I can, but still, the situation is more tense right now than it was back in the Temple of Light. And at least I didn't have to watch Tails die right before my eyes-_

"Howdy," Rouge's voice tore Cosmo away from her thoughts, and with an alarmed cry she turned her head to face the bat, who looked immensely pleased with herself as she sped alongside Sonic.

"Wha – _Rouge?" _Sonic shouted, rearing his head back in alarm as he took in the thief and her passenger. "But...how are you -?"

"What's up, Sonic?" Tails asked from behind them, and with a shout, Sonic put on a burst of sound and sprinted away from the two airborne creatures, whose sudden appearance seemed to be too much for him. Laughing softly, Rouge kept pace with him easily, her wings beating so fast that they were no more distinct than two black streaks.

"Relax, hedgehog," the thief murmured, enjoyment etched upon her face. "There's no need to lose your pants."

"Not that you're wearing any," noted Knuckles, and the two of them snorted with laughter. Sonic, who had already heard the joke once that day, rolled his eyes and attempted to direct the conversation away from the subject.

"How are you keeping up?" he demanded, sounding slightly panicked. Cosmo, too, was intrigued, for she was certain that the energy to naturally travel faster than the speed of sound was absent in any being except for Sonic.

"Power tablets," Tails informed them, and both Sonic and Cosmo's heads swivelled around to face the fox. "It was Rouge's idea, and we wouldn't have had to use them at all if you didn't run like a maniac."

Sonic opened his mouth to respond, but Cream giggled shrilly and Tails waved him down, a slight smile upon his face. "It's alright, Sonic. And anyways, we've still got two tablets left, but only for emergency use."

"How the hell did you make those things, Tails?" Knuckles demanded from Rouge's arms, sounding slightly disgruntled at not being offered a Chaos Emerald. To Cosmo's surprise, the fox shifted uncomfortably, averting his eyes from Sonic's, and he answered very fast, as though getting the facts out quickly would make it less unpleasant for them to hear.

"Well...I, um...developed them just after Chaos shattered the Master Emerald. You were unconscious," he added, forcing himself to meet Sonic's eyes guiltily. "-and Amy almost bit my head off when I suggested it, but –"

"Stop babbling, Tails," Knuckles cut across the fox in a warning voice. "Tell us what's in those tablets."

Tails gulped nervously, then, looking quickly around the assembled group, cleared his throat and said, "Well...I...um...I took some of your DNA Sonic, so it's sorta like when you take a fake Chaos Emerald, you gain your abilities for half an hour."

"Urgh!" Rouge cried theatrically, pretending to swoon at the fox's words. "You mean I _ate _part of _him?"_

"Gross," Sonic hissed, mocking disgust as he turned to face Tails. "You let _her _eat part of _me?"_

Everyone laughed, though Tails' was slightly nervous, and Cosmo, still smiling, twisted her wrist around to check on their progress, only to have the grin freeze when she realized they had passed their mark.

"STOP!" she shouted, and Sonic immediately froze, his limbs suspended comically in mid-step. "We've gone too far!"

Like a bullet from a gun, Sonic turned around and sprinted away from where Rouge and Tails had fallen out of the air in surprise, outstripping both sound and light in his haste to reach the place where Amy was waiting for them.

"Okay!" Cosmo managed to choke out through lips rippling with G force. Sonic dug his heels into the ground to halt his chaotic progress, splattering them both with muck. Cosmo slid off Sonic's back, wiping sand-coloured dirt from her eyes, spitting out a mouthful of the stuff as Rouge, Knuckles, Tails, Cream and Cheese alighted around them.

"Thanks for the short notice," Rouge grumbled, clearly disgruntled, but Cosmo merely shrugged unconcernedly; the time for pleasantries had come and gone.

"So where is Amy?" Knuckles asked, gazing around the empty space around them, probing the rapidly shrinking shadows for the sign of a brightly coloured crystal, looking thoroughly unimpressed.

"I'd bet she's either in the sky, like Cream was, or underground," Tails offered, his bright blue eyes scanning the cloudless orangy-pink sky above them, a trace of fear in his eyes when he took in the absence of their bright pink friend. "Rouge, Cream, let's check it out."

The latters nodded and made to jump into the air, but there was a loud squelching sound, and the three Mobians found that they could not jump into the air. "What the -?" Rouge muttered, trying without success to pull her white boots free of the thick sandy mud beneath them. Suddenly, Sonic's eyes widened with comprehension, and he exchanged a panicked look with Tails before gasping, "Quicksand!"

On that word, everyone proceeded to explode into panic as loudly as they could; Cream squealed shrilly, already submerged up to her waist, while Cheese wailed, "Chao Chao!" over and over again while pulling on one of her floppy ears. Rouge and Tails hopped up and down, wings and tails flapping frantically as they attempted to hoist their owners into the air, and Sonic attempted to run out of the quicksand, but to no avail. Knuckles bent over and tried to yank his legs free, lost his balance and fell onto his rear, where he proceeded to sink faster than Cream.

Soon, everyone was submerged up to their chests – and in Cream's and Knuckles' cases, their necks – by which time the panicking had stopped, for each member of the group realized that escape was, for once, impossible.

"KNUCKLES!" screamed Rouge, and she seized a handful of the echidna's hair and yanked on it harshly, only to release him when he yelled in pain. Meanwhile, the combined efforts of Sonic, Tails, Cosmo and Cheese were not enough to pull an almost totally obscured Cream from out of the quicksand.

"Hold your breath, Cream!" Tails yelled, releasing the rabbit's ears as her mouth became submerged. Brown eyes huge with panic, Cream sank out of view, and Cheese, wailing as he held onto one of his friend's ears, vanished as well. Rouge let out an agonized sob as Knuckles disappeared as well, and Cosmo, feeling her neck slip under, tilted her head to face the sky, thinking, _This is it. We are about to die. Illumina has already come and gone, and Amy's with her. She left a trace of her magic to lure us here, and placed the quicksand so that we would suffocate._

Just as her face was about to slip under, she felt her feet break through what seemed to be the bottom of the quicksand, and they dangled in what she thought was empty space. She only had time to exchange a panicked look with Tails before her head slipped under, and she forced her eyes shut, reaching one hand up to cover her mouth and nose, forcing herself not to panic, trying not to examine the possibility that she was about to die.

For a moment she hung there, the inescapable wetness that was the quicksand crushing against her from all sides. And then, just when she was about to suck in a breath, she slipped through the quicksand, falling out into empty space. It was cold and damp, and then she had landed on a slimy, jagged rocky surface that sloped steeply downwards. It took her a moment to realize that she was screaming, and she promptly clamped a hand over her mouth, for it did no good to scream, something she had long since learned-

Suddenly, the slide flattened out, and Cosmo was ejected from it with impossible speed, slamming hard into something very furry with a surprised "Oof!"

"Get off of me!" came Knuckles' muffled grunt from beneath her, and Cosmo immediately rolled off of him, moaning in pain.

"Sorry!" she stammered, groping through the blackness for the echidna's hand. "I didn't mean to knock you – OW!"

For someone had just slammed into her and Knuckles with a "Woah!" of surprise, knocking the pair of them off of their feet.

"Get _off!" _growled Knuckles, rolling out from beneath the newcomer.

"Knuckles?" hissed Tails from on top of her.

"Tails!" Cosmo gasped out, trying to shove the fox off of her, (he was sort of heavy). "Do you mind?"

"Sorry!" he stammered, rolling off her. Breathing heavily, Cosmo allowed him to help her to her feet, massaging her ribs.

"Is someone there?" came Cream's voice from somewhere behind them, sounding scared.

"Cream!" whispered Cosmo and Tails, feeling their way towards the rabbit, but then there was a rush of air and Cosmo found herself sandwiched between the floor and two heavy bodies.

"Dammit, _get off!" _protested Knuckles, squirming out from between her and the newcomer.

"Knuckles?" Rouge murmured, sounding intrigued.

"Rouge!" Knuckles hissed, instantly alert.

"Can you _please _get off?" whispered Cosmo, shoving valiantly against Rouge's body – she was heavier than Tails.

"Sorry, kiddo," Rouge apologized, leaping off of her. Cosmo groaned and sat up, just in time to hear someone give a surprised "WHOAH!" as they were ejected from the slide, and by the sounds of it, they slammed into another set of bodies.

Knuckles was swearing, having been knocked over yet again, and Sonic was muttering, "Damn, sorry Knucklehead."

"Sonic?" Tails hissed, from somewhere nearby.

"Tails?" Sonic demanded, apparently rolling off of Knuckles.

"_Sonic?" _Rouge hissed.

"Rouge?"

"Rouge is here?" Cream whispered from behind Cosmo.

"Squirt?" the thief murmured, sounding overwhelmed.

"Wait, where's Cheese?" Sonic demanded, alarmed.

"Chao, Chao!" piped up the Chao.

"Wait, what about Cosmo?" Rouge muttered.

"Right here," Cosmo grumbled, annoyed that it had taken them so long to remember her.

"Hang on, where's -" began Sonic, but then Knuckles exploded, "RIGHT HERE! PLEASE, DON'T START THAT AGAIN!"

There was silence for a minute, during which Knuckles' shout echoed off the underground walls, and then Sonic broke it, his voice tauntingly snide. "Sure thing, Knucky. If it's hurting your poor brain, that is."

"Why you -"

"Does anyone have a match?" Rouge cut across Knuckles' retort with a slight smile in her voice.

"I can go one better," Tails offered, and Cosmo could hear him tapping furiously on his comlink. How he could see in the darkness was anyone's guess, but then, a wide arc of dazzling white light had appeared before them, aimed slowly into everyone's faces by Tails. When it became apparent that everyone was present, he directed it at the walls of their underground surroundings, revealing them to be in a large, roughly circular room with slimy coal black walls and sinister stalactites hanging from the ceiling.

"So, where's Amy?" Knuckles asked from beside Tails, still looking slightly angry. The fox shook his head, frowning slightly.

"I don't know. According to the scanner, we're in the Maginaryworld energy right now, so we're going to have to look for her in the dark."

"Oh ha-ha," Knuckles muttered sarcastically, but no one paid him any attention; Rouge, however, cocked her head to one side and opened her mouth wide, staring at a spot in the blackness. Cosmo threw her a questioning look and then Rouge, a smile spreading across her face, turned to face the group at large, all of them looking thoroughly mystified.

"We're headed that way," she informed them, pointing to a spot in the wall, and Tails, his eyes widening in comprehension, gasped, "Echolocation!"

Rouge winked at the fox, and then continued. "Get ready to get dirty, boys and girls; we're going to have to crawl."

Sonic was not particularly afraid of tight, enclosed spaces, but he was teetering on the brink of an explosion of anger at what was happening right now; the others had insisted that he crawl with the rest of them, that it would be too dangerous for him to go alone. Sonic snorted, unimpressed, and Tails threw him an alarmed look over his shoulder; _dangerous _might as well have been his middle name.

But he had been outvoted, and so now he was crawling at a pace that a snail could outstrip with ease, fuming silently. Rouge was in the lead, claiming that they would be lost without her echolocation, radiating smugness; Tails came next, having to do more of a crouched run than a crawl, for he was in charge of lighting the path before them up so that Rouge did not have to rely entirely upon her special talent. Next came Sonic, followed by Cosmo, then Cream, Cheese and Knuckles. He had not wanted Cream and Cheese to accompany them at all, for they would be prime targets as hostages in the coming battle, but Cosmo had protested to leaving them behind in the main chamber and hypocritically refused to watch them herself. So Cream, much to her smugness, was crawling along behind him right now, unable to comprehend the danger she was slowly approaching.

_They don't belong here at all, _Sonic thought, wiping grime from his eyes. _They're way too young, I should have taken them to Tails' workshop, at the very least. For God's sake, they're hardly out of diapers! And Cosmo probably shouldn't be here, either, _he added as an afterthought. _She didn't sign up for this, and she's no fighter; at least Knuckles and Tails were in this from the start. Rouge saw what Illumina can do, and she's still sticking with us, and Amy...Amy's up ahead right now, waiting to be rescued. By the gods, we had better reach her._

Rouge's gasp of wonder tore him violently from his thoughts; fearing attack, Sonic's eyes snapped back into focus, shifting around in search of her cause of alarm. It took him a second, but then he realized that there was a dazzling white light with thousands of individual sparks inside it emanating out from around the corner, mingling with the light from Tails' comlink. It took every single ounce of his willpower to keep himself from shoving Rouge and Tails out of his way and sprinting towards the place where Amy was, and he contented himself with a hiss of, "Go! Go!"

The excited, rapid breathing of his friends echoing off the walls behind him, Sonic followed Rouge around the corner, and was unable to stifle a gasp; the light had become blinding, obscuring absolutely everything, despite his frantic probes for a sign of Amy hidden in its brightness. Suddenly, Rouge threw herself forwards, her wings unfurling from her sides, and seconds later, Tails followed her. Sonic was about to shout in alarm when the light before him cleared to reveal a decent sized circular hole right in front of him, looking down into a vast, cylindrical stone room. With a grunt of effort, Sonic launched himself off of his perch, turning a controlled somersault as he did so and landing lightly on his feet beside where Rouge and Tails were brushing themselves off.

Immediately, he probed their new surroundings; the stone ceiling was about twenty feet above them, and the entire space had clearly been carved magically. The dazzling white light bounced off the walls in weird, disco ball-like patterns, giving the room an unfittingly cheery feeling. But Sonic was not paying any attention to this; his eyes had long since zeroed in on what was in the center of the room.

Upon a rough stone altar sat a clump of pristinely white crystals, hundreds of tiny ones littering the base of the main one, which was six feet high. Suspended inside it was, at long last, Amy, her eyes closed, standing upright just like everyone else had been, no longer a burnt, black colour, but returned to her usual light pink. Her gloved hands were resting against the surface of her prison at chest level as though she were trying to shove it off...as though she were aware of the direness of their situation.

"Ve-e-ry nice," Rouge commented, enunciating each syllable with a slight whistle in her voice. Sonic was anchored back into the present by her comment, and he turned to see that the bat, just like him, was staring at Amy, though she was not regarding her crystal as an obstacle, but treasure.

Knuckles, Cosmo, Cream and Cheese had landed around him, all of them coated in grime, each wearing an expression that perfectly portrayed their emotions, for this final challenge, freeing their last friend, had a different meaning to each of them; to Rouge, it meant repaying her debt; to Knuckles, it meant a big fight; to Tails, it was making sure no one died this time; to Cosmo, it meant revenge upon Illumina; to Cream and Cheese, it was proving their usefulness. But to Sonic, it meant finally seeing Amy alive again.

Sonic's eyes flickered around the room, probing the shadows, searching for confirmation that they were alone. It legitimately seemed like there was no one else in the room but them, no one visible at least. The thought did not calm him.

"Alright, listen up," he hissed, when he decided there was nothing else he could do for the situation. "I have no idea why Illumina's not here right now, but I'm sure that that Epona girl set up a trap before she died. Rouge, Knuckles, you're with me; we're going to try to get the crystal. Cream, Cheese, Cosmo and Tails, _stick to the shadows. _If there's anything in here, they're going to be concentrating on trying to stop us from reaching Amy, so you should be safe if you're perfectly quiet."

The seriousness of his voice was such that not even Tails protested to being left behind, and, as one, the group of non-fighters backed against the wall, immediately becoming immersed in shadows and reduced to nothing more than silhouettes. Sonic took a slow, deep breath through his nose, then turned to face Knuckles and Rouge, both of whom looked perfectly calm, relaxed, anticipating expressions on their faces. What did they have to be afraid of? After all, there was no one in the room but them...right?

"I'll touch the crystal," Sonic announced, looking seriously into each of his friends' eyes. "When that happens, I'll have no idea what's going on here, so you two are going to have to cover for me."

"Sure thing," Rouge nodded, winking slyly at him.

"Gotcha," Knuckles grunted, biceps flexing. Sonic stared at them both for a minute, then clapped Knuckles on the shoulder and clasped hands briefly with Rouge.

"Then let's do this," he growled, launching himself forwards in the direction of Amy's crystal.

But, inevitably, something happened, for Sonic had never really thought that Illumina had no plan, that they had not merely beaten her to it. And after all, where's the fun in an easy win?

"Now Sonic, you're going to ruin all my fun!" cried a horribly familiar voice, a captivating mix of stardust and sunlight trapped in sound form, emanating out from the shadows. At the sound of the voice, Sonic skidded to a halt, Rouge and Knuckles rocketing to stops beside him, an action he would soon come to regret immensely, his eyes fixed upon the shadows where the voice had sounded from. Like a ghost, Illumina melted out from her hiding place, her beautiful face transported with joy, pale white hands clasped beneath her chin. In a graceful swirl of her robes, the goddess of Maginaryworld vanished, reappearing instantly in front of Amy's crystal, hiding it almost completely from view.

Sonic glared into his enemy's beatific face, absolute hatred coursing through him; he had not come all this way, witnessed the death and rebirth of all of his friends but one, just to be stopped by the power-crazed vulture before him. Biting back a growl, Sonic slipped into a half-crouch, while Rouge snorted and hissed, "So. _You're _Illumina."

Illumina tore her eyes away from Sonic's to stare amusedly at Rouge. "Yes. _I'm _Illumina. Didn't Epona warn you not to stick around, bat? I seem to remember that -"

"Epona won't be giving anyone stupid warnings ever again," Sonic snarled, and Illumina's eyes snapped back onto his face, narrowing with hate.

"You fool," she scoffed softly, shaking her head from side to side. "Did you really think you _killed _Epona? Hmph! Oh, you robbed her of her powers," she hissed, and the goddess' face didn't look quite so lovely anymore. "but I have helped her regain them, and she is far from dead. It was my unfortunate duty to deny her her revenge." An evil gleam came into the goddess' eyes on the last word.

Knuckles couldn't seem to help himself. "What are you going to do?" he snarled, flexing his muscles menacingly.

Illumina, untroubled, turned her body to the side, letting her eyes slide closed as she tilted her head towards the ground, one hand clasped over her chest. "I'm going to destroy your planet," she said softly, her voice as deceptively innocent as a sly child's. "I feel like that is fitting enough revenge for my humiliation. You can still save it, however," she turned her body so that it was facing Amy's crystal, while she looked over her shoulder at Sonic, her eyes dancing maliciously, taunting him. "because there's nothing of interest for you here. Believe me, there's nothing here worth throwing your lives away for."

"_NO!" _Sonic roared, extending one hand, his face frozen in shock, but it was too late; Illumina reached out and placed her thin hand upon the surface of Amy's crystal, and with a burst of silver light, the pair of them had vanished.

_No, _he thought in a dead, hollow voice, collapsing onto his knees, hand still outstretched, eyes still fixed upon the place where the two most pursued people in his life hand vanished. _I'm dreaming, this isn't happening, nothing this horrible could possibly be real..._

But it was happening; Amy and Illumina had slipped through his fingers once again, gone undoubtedly to Maginaryworld, and this time, he could not follow them, for he did not have his powers to create a portal to the dream world or Lumina to help him create one. And with that realization, the tears that had been brimming in his eyes overflowed, streaking down his cheeks, but he forced himself to remain silent as he mourned this latest, momentous loss. Curling the fingers of his outstretched hand into his palm, Sonic pounded the ground with his fist, clenching his eyes shut. The door that he had slammed shut on the memory of Amy's death suddenly flew open, and Sonic, drained of the strength to force it shut, allowed the anguish to wash over him, to consume him, and he sank down, down, down into blackness, remembering...

_Amy's face was streaked with tears as she looked up at him, and his subconsciousness, realizing what was going on, reeled, screaming at him, demanding that he seize the girl before him and sprint away._

"_Oh Sonic, I just can't do it!" she cried, whirling away from the mysterious twinkling golden mist that was hanging unobtrusively before them. "I just can't say goodbye!"_

_With an agonized sob, she flung her arms around him, shaking with sorrow, and Sonic tried to pull away, while his subconsciousness struggled more violently than before, screaming warnings at him as it uncovered what his final friend was hiding from him. He let her stay there, only because he was too weak from the loss of his every other friend to try to pry her off. Eventually, she raised her face up to look at him, and there was such a heartbreaking expression on her face that he automatically reached up and put a gloved hand to her face._

"_My destiny," she whispered, her eyes sliding closed, apparently unable to look him in the eye as she spoke. "Is to help you get as close to Illumina as possible, not to help her destroy the world. But if we want Illumina to die, I have to also."_

_Sonic felt as though Amy were speaking to him from across an ocean of horror, the thunderous crashing of what could have been waves berating his ears. He stared at Amy, his brain grinding to a halt, preferring to wallow in incomprehension than examine the agonizing revelation her words were inducing._

"_W-what?" he asked in bewilderment, his voice weak. "W-why?"_

"_Because that's what Cosmo said," Amy whispered, her eyes sliding open once more, the picture of utmost pain. "And if we can't trust Cosmo, we can't trust anybody."_

_She made to disentangle herself from him, something she would never willingly do, not unless it was absolutely necessary. Sonic let her go, for his grip on her had gone from iron bars to broken twigs. He stared at her, refusing to listen to the truth that was screaming at him from behind a door he had slammed shut in its face._

_"Please, Amy," he whispered, his voice pleading, something that had never been present in his voice before. "We can find another way in or something, you don't have to die –"_

_"We don't have time to find another way in," Amy responded gently, reaching out to touch his face with her fingertips. "It's the only way," she added, her eyes sliding closed. "And believe me, if it wasn't, I couldn't bear to do this. You're my best friend, Sonic, and the only hope Mobius has left."_

_She leaned in and kissed him swiftly on the cheek, while she pressed something into one of his hands, curling his fingers closed around it, and then she was gone, her blackened form sprinting towards the golden mist, which suddenly looked a lot more threatening. Sonic stood there, frozen, his mouth open in a silent shout of horror, one hand outstretched towards her retreating form, towards the girl who loved him, the one who was willing to give up everything for him, the only friend he had left-_

_Amy did not look back at him as she passed through the mist; it parted to allow her to pass through it, and her form instantly became nothing more than a shadow, one to join the six other figures who looked strangely familiar. For a moment, her shadowy form hovered there, and then, Sonic's mind was seized by a bright white light, with Amy's ghostly form hovering before him. She was no longer a burned and charred black, her dress ripped and tattered, but as perfectly pristine as she had been before they had entered the plain._

_"I'll be with Cosmo and the others, now," she told him, her dark green eyes sparkling, whether with tears or happiness she did not know. "But sometimes, you've gotta do things you would normally never do, for the sake of Mobius. You've gotta go on and face Illumina. Please," her voice became no louder than a whisper, and a single tear rolled down her pink cheek. "For Tails and Cream and the others. For me."_

_She blew him a kiss and winked roguishly, and then her ghostly form faded into non-existence, the white light cleared so that he was once more standing in Eggman's vehicle hangar._

No, he wasn't in Eggman's vehicle hangar, he was in a cave, hundreds of meters below ground-

_Amy Rose had left the vehicle hangar, had left Mobius...had left Sonic. Forever._

No, she was not gone forever. Illumina had taken her, he could still save her, but only if he moved, if he breathed-

_He could not move. He was frozen with shock, staring at the place where his last, best friend had vanished, his eyes huge with horror, unable to comprehend how he was still alive, when something so horrible had just happened-_

Sonic was jarred sharply back into the present when someone brushed his cheek with the back of his hand. Giving a little start, he looked up, and saw that none other than Lumina Flowlight was floating above him, her beautiful features marred by her sorrow, her crystalline blue eyes sparkling with tears, mouth curving into a shaky half-smile. Knuckles and Rouge stood on either side of him, both having the dignity to look subdued, while Tails' eyes were clenched shut, though he was not quite able to stem the flow of his tears. Cosmo stood beside him, tears pouring silently down her face as she stared at Sonic with anguished eyes, while Cream and Cheese had collapsed upon the floor, faces buried in their hands, shoulders heaving with sobs.

The sight of them all standing there, each lost in the horribleness of what had just happened, coupled with his own impossible sorrow, was too much for Sonic; he was shouting before he could quite comprehend how it had happened.

"WHY DID YOU HAVE TO PUT EVERYONE SO FAR AWAY, LUMINA?" he roared, jabbing an accusing finger at the Maginaire who was inches from his face. Everyone flinched at the anger in his voice, but he was past caring; his discretion for other people's feelings had deserted him the moment Amy had. "IF WE HADN'T SPENT THE WHOLE NIGHT RUNNING AROUND MOBIUS LOOKING FOR EVERYBODY, WE'D HAVE AMY WITH US RIGHT NOW! BUT INSTEAD...INSTEAD, ILLUMINA'S GOT HER, AND WHO KNOWS WHAT...WHAT..."

He paused, breathing heavily, straining to catch his breath; shouting felt good, passing the blame onto someone else was easier than shouldering the vast majority of it that was directed at him. He had not finished yet, and was going to start shouting once more the moment he caught his breath, but Lumina capitalized on his temporary silence to plead her own case.

"I'm sorry Sonic," she whispered, and her tinkling voice perfectly portrayed the emotion. "I truly am. But please, let me explain.

"I think Cosmo told everyone that I returned you all to life by imprisoning you in magical crystals; in Cosmo's case, however, she was returned immediately to life, which was particularly easy, because her body had been destroyed, which meant that I could relocate her wherever I wanted.

"With everyone else, it was not as easy; their spirits returned to their places they had died, and since we needed to help you immediately, returning anyone else was...undesirable. So you see, I did not choose the places to imprison your friends; Fate did.

"As for Amy...well...I'm sure you've noticed that the crystals are incredibly strong. Forgive me for being immodest, but I'm rather good at magic, and since I anticipated that Illumina would try to reach Amy, I cast very heavy enchantments around it. Breaking those is beyond Illumina; she does not have the capacity to do what must be done to get past them. The crystal will withstand everything she throws at it, be it physical or magical.

"But if, in the impossible event that she _does _break my enchantments, Illumina is in for a big disappointment. Amy is, as you saw, dead, her soul has not yet been returned to her body. And I am afraid that that is precisely what she is after; her soul."

"Her soul?" Rouge asked sceptically, raising an eyebrow. "Why?"

"There will be plenty of time to discuss this later!" Lumina cried, a little too quickly. "Mobius is in danger right now, and unless we hurry, we will not be able to save anyone!"

Sonic couldn't help but selfishly think that saving Amy was more important right now, though he knew that, at the moment, doing such a thing was impossible right now, and if the Maginaire was telling the truth – as she undoubtedly was – they needed to hurry, or there would not be a Maginaryworld to return to.

"Alright," Sonic said, storing the mystery of Lumina's change of subject away for later studying. "Let's go. But how are we supposed to get out of here."

Lumina, as with everything else, seemed to have an answer; raising her arms up above her head, she closed her eyes and, in a voice that rung with power, cried, "UP!"

Though Sonic had expected something bizarre to happen, he had not thought the room would mirror Lumina's command so literally; with a low, rumbling roar, the rocky ceiling above them grinded backwards to reveal ominous, endless black clouds, all rumbling loudly as they rolled across the sky. Before the others could utter more than gasps of shock and wonder, the ground beneath them shuddered and launched itself upwards, ferrying them towards the surface with impressive speed. In less than a second, they were at surface level, and this time, everyone gave cries of utmost horror.

"_No!" _gasped Cosmo, sounding appalled.

"How...how _could _she?" demanded Tails, quivering with both fear and rage.

"Crafty bitch," muttered Rouge, whistling in a woefully impressed way.

Mobius had been bordering on dawn when they had been sucked under the quicksand, the sky a pinkish orange hue. But now, it had transformed into an endless expanse of cloud cover, all of them pitch black, not a square inch of sky visible, the sun completely blocked out. Mobius City was visible from where they were standing, and hanging above it was a gigantic, violently lavender cloud that resembled a hurricane and maelstrom slammed into one. It churned and rolled, violent white bolts of jagged lightning lashing out at random moments and pummelling their city. In the middle of the cloud was a gaping black hole, from which the lightning seemed to be emanating from.

"By the gods," Sonic breathed, his eyes widening in horror as he took in the horrific sight. "We have to go!"

"Tell me about it!" growled Knuckles, sounding alarmed, and without another word, the group departed, Rouge, Knuckles, Tails, Cream, Cheese and Lumina jumping into the air and streaking forwards, while Sonic seized Cosmo and, with no time to sling her onto his back, carried her in the same fashion he usually carried Amy, his eyes fixed upon the city, though his mind was far away.

_So close, _he thought, clenching his fists in anger at the memory of Illumina's narrow escape. _I can't believe I stopped for her! And thanks to me, Amy's that creep's prisoner! _A moment's mental silence, then, _Is Lumina wrong? Does Illumina really know how to break through her enchantments? Having the power of the sun on her side couldn't hurt..._

He couldn't but think that, though he despised himself for it, that Lumina's magic was nowhere near as powerful as Illumina's, and that, with enough time, the goddess would be over to overcome the little Maginaire's obstacles. The last words Illumina had spoken to him rang as clearly through his mind as though she were standing right next to him.

'_Believe me, there's nothing here worth throwing your lives away for.'_

Was it true? Was Amy already too far gone to be saved?

"Dammit, if I can't save Amy, I will save Mobius!" Sonic growled, his words instantly whipped away by the ferocious wind.

"Sonic?" Cosmo gasped, sounding alarmed. "Are you...are you crying?"

Sonic's head jerked violently as he remembered he was not alone, then put one hand to his face to feel it. To his surprise, he found that it was wet with salt water. Hastily, he brushed the moisture away, but Cosmo had seen it, and with a little, empathetic gasp, she wrapped her slim arms around his shoulders with some difficulty, in what was a somewhat awkward hug.

"Don't worry, Sonic," the Seedrian murmured, her eyes over bright as she fixed them upon his. "Illumina will pay for this. She has to. And we'll make her."

"It's...it's too dangerous for everyone to go," Sonic muttered pathetically, wrenching his gaze away from the Seedrian and fixing them upon the fast-approaching city, being savaged by a storm conjured by the very being they were headed to do battle with.

"Don't be stupid," Cosmo snapped, though her voice was not angry. "You don't have to do everything alone. Place your trust in your friends, Sonic; we will not fail you."

It took him a moment, but suddenly, humility coursed through him; how could he have considered trying to take on Illumina on his own? There was strength in numbers, as he should have learned by now. And then, quite suddenly, he felt as though an immense weight had been lifted from off of his chest, making him feel ten pounds lighter and infinitely more hopeful.

Narrowing his eyes and smiling slightly, Sonic shook his head in disdain as he thought, _Believe me, Illumina; there was something in that cave worth throwing my life away for._

Rouge ground her teeth together, her eyes fixed upon the city, only kept going by the knowledge that her home's future depended on her reaching the metropolis. "What's happening?" she managed to shout over the suddenly deafening winds, fighting to keep herself from being flipped over.

Lumina alone seemed to be able to navigate the sky without any difficulty, and she was _tiny. _Taking in a deep breath, she pointed unnecessarily at the vast storm cloud and shouted, "We've got to hurry! The storm is growing incredibly fast; at this rate, all of northern Mobius will be covered within the next two hours, which gives us very little time to do what must be done!"

"Which is what?" Rouge demanded, bowing her head against the uproarious wind.

Lumina shot upwards and twisted around so that she was flying backwards, her great crystalline blue eyes vast as she shouted, "That is a magical storm! Anything and everything that gets sucked into it will be transported to the frozen outer regions of my world. Death is imminent and inescapable."

"AND YOU'RE FLYING US _TOWARDS _THAT THING?" Knuckles shouted from her arms, sounding exasperated, and Rouge couldn't help but laugh.

Lumina was untroubled. "Don't worry. I have enough magic in me to alter the course of the storm for one second, and one second only. That storm was created by Maginaryworld energy, and so it can therefore be _traced _back to Maginaryworld! During that one second, I will be able to alter the place where the portal deposits everything to where Illumina is; the Temple of Light! Since the storm is born of Illumina's energy, I think that when and if we kill her, the storm dies with her!"

"And will everyone who got sucked in come back when that happens?" Rouge shouted, but this time, Lumina did not have an answer for her.

"I cannot say for sure," the Maginaire cried, shaking her head to emphasize her uncertainty. "But you can be certain that if we do not kill Illumina, no one will ever see anything every again!"

_Fair enough,_ thought Rouge, smiling wryly. _The odds are always stacked against us. Why would this, the time when the odds are most important, be any different._

Eventually, they had reached the outskirts of the city, by which time the winds had grown so impossible to navigate that Rouge, drenched to the bone and ready to snap at the first person to speak to her, gave up her attempts to keep airborne. Lumina, agreeing with her, flitted off to warn Tails, while the bat folded her wings and allowed herself to drop, exhausted, back to the ground.

Tails, Cream and Cheese had a shorter distance to drop than her, and so they reached the ground first. Lumina wasted no time in babbling and launched straight into briefing. Pointing once more at the magical storm, she cried, "I cannot take everyone with me to Maginaryworld via teleportation. This forces us to take option two; the storm.

"My powers are only so strong; the storm, however, will strengthen as long as Illumina is alive. If the storm continues to grow at its present rate – which it should – we only have four minutes to reach the center of the city. Is everyone ready?"

_Do we have a choice? _Rouge thought, but she shouted, "YES!" with the rest of the group. As one, they set off at a sprint, and Sonic, clearly unwilling to take any chances, scooped up Cosmo, Cream and Cheese and slung them over his back, leading their group in their advance.

It was chaos. Rain was falling so thick and fast that the sewers were overflowing, and it felt like a million rice grains were pounding her on the back, hurled at them by an invisible giant. The wind roared so loudly and viciously that the rain appeared to be flying upwards, deafening her, and with her considerable hearing, Rouge suspected that her ears would be ringing for days.

Every building was lying in ruins, crumbled to rubble from the constant pounding at the hands of lightning. Shards of glass flew through the air like daggers, whooshing sinisterly. The sidewalk had deep gorges ripped in it, battered beyond repair. Cars tumbled end over end like barrels rolling down a hill, glass shattered, trailing oil, dousing everything with its contents. Newspapers were ripped apart before their eyes, lampposts were ripped out of the ground like toothpicks, billboards swept through the air, rippling like flying carpets, and all around them were animals, all screaming in terror, pushing and shoving and trampling each other in their haste to get away from the center of the city, some desperately calling out for friends, others succumbing because of the sheer numbers. Every few seconds, a handful of these unfortunate creatures were swept off the ground and launched skywards, pulled towards the center of the maliciously cackling storm like ants caught in orbit, all screaming shrilly. Most were sucked out of sight, but a few managed to latch onto the few remaining upright ruins of buildings, calling out desperately for help that would not come.

It was as though hell had come to Mobius, determined to wreck as much havoc as it could before it was forced back into submission.

One thing remained constant throughout the entire trip; as Rouge battled her way forwards with the others, the animals gave them a wide berth, too terrified to recognize them as the heroes that they were, only sparing them enough thought to categorize them as lunatics with clear death wishes, running towards certain, painful doom.

How long it took them she did not know, but eventually, they reached the city's center, their group still intact and every member still alive, having managed to avoid being swept up into the air. Rouge could barely see three feet in front of her, but she knew that, despite the distortion caused by the relentless rain, everyone was drenched to the bone and equally disgruntled.

Through the pounding rain, Rouge saw Lumina raise one hand into the air, folding up five fingers; clearly, not even she could shout over the din, but her message was clear; five fingers, five seconds. Then four, then-

Suddenly, Rouge was hoisted into the air with gut-wrenching force, pulled upwards by an impossible, irresistible force that no one had a hope of denying. Her screams were lost with the wind as she tumbled end over end, rising like a helium balloon, her limbs smacking into the bodies of those who were flying with her, whether friend or not she did not know-

And then, as abruptly as she had started rising, her progress was halted, for she felt an agonizing tug on her midriff before she was anchored to the ground. Feeling extremely disoriented, Rouge looked down, and saw that a rope fashioned entirely of light had fastened itself around her stomach, keeping her from rising any further like a child holding onto a balloon. The others were similarly bound to the ground, all of them looking completely bewildered.

_Lumina, _the theif thought, strangely calm.

Sure enough, the little Maginaire, who had managed to halt her progress without the help of a rope, was floating some ten feet away from them, her arms held high above her head, bright blue eyes transformed into glowing golden spheres of power as she shouted, "I CALL UPON THE POWERS OF LOVE AND NATURE TO HELP ME TAKE THESE CREATURES TO VANQUISH THE ONE WHO HAS INFECTED THEIR LAND WITH DARKNESS! SPIRITS OF THE LIGHT, LEND ME YOUR POWER!"

It was a scene that was only comparable to one in a fantasy book; the gaping black hole in the center of the cloud seemed to pulse, and then, with a supernova-class explosion of noise that rent the air apart, twelve pillars of plasmatic blue light shot out of its center, spiralling and twisting in an impossibly graceful dance as they plummeted downwards. Meanwhile, a circle of the same coloured light had appeared far below the Maginaire, with twelve glowing black symbols Rouge could not understand pulsating in the places of the numbers on a clock. Each pillar of light slammed onto a different symbol, each impact causing a gong-like boom that put the thunderclaps to shame. The beams began to widen with noise like laser beams being fired, growing wider and wider until they were a single streak of light, and Lumina was lost inside its depths.

Suddenly, both Sonic and Knuckles were cut loose from their strands of light, and they tumbled head over heels towards the pillar, causing the places they had vanished to ripple like water. Before Rouge could scream, before she could think, she was slammed forcefully into Tails, Cosmo, Cream and Cheese, and suddenly, the golden ropes that were binding them together formed a makeshift cage around them, the bars thickening until the world outside was lost from view.

Abruptly, impossibly, Rouge was exhausted. Such a feeling should have been impossible at such a time, and yet it _was _possible, and not only that, it was the only real thing in the world now-

Rouge was unconscious before you could say 'Wow'.

Illumina was, quite simply furious.

She was so mad, in fact, that she threw back her head and screamed, holding the ridiculously high note for a ridiculously high time.

The cause of her frustration was, of course, Amy Rose, who, to her further enragement, was still unconscious. She had thought that any spell of Lumina's could be easily unravelled, that such an enchantment would have been child's play.

Epona had been watching the entire process, and though she had not moved a muscle, Illumina would have rather had the messenger dancing around the Temple. Anything was better than the infuriatingly smug smile she had been wearing during the last fifteen minutes.

The messenger had reported that the members of Sonic the Hedgehog's clan had merely touched the surface of each crystal and, after several moments, the captured animal had been sprung free. So Illumina had touched Amy Rose's crystal, only to be presented with a vision, a vision of her defeat from a bystander's point of view. A defeat that had occurred in this very Temple, brought about by the combined efforts of Sonic the Hedgehog, Cosmo the Seedrian, and Amy Rose.

Something that was born more so out of her errors than their triumphs.

And though she had been infuriated, she was sure that the crystal would quiver in the face of her magical abilities. She had tried shattering it, burning it, electrocuting it, freezing it, melting it and smashing it. She had dropped it from a great height, kicked, punched, screamed, swore, threatened, begged, cried, tried to flatten it, increased the pressure on it, decreased the pressure on it, sucked all the air out of the room, shot lightning bolts at it, directed the force of an atomic bomb into its center, and when none of those had worked, she had thrown it across the room, but that did not help, and or had she expected it to.

She had even had Epona try, but the servant was no more successful than she had been.

_How intolerable is this, that this girl defies me even in her sleep? _Illumina thought, quivering with rage, and then, quite abruptly, she could take no more. "EPONA!" she screeched, turning upon her messenger, literally spitting fire with rage. "TAKE THIS GIRL OUT OF MY SIGHT! HAVE VOID EXTRACT HER FROM THIS CRYSTAL, OR I WILL HAVE HIM KILLED. _GO!"_

"Yes, my lady," murmured Epona, the same superior smile upon her face and, with a mock bow, she and Amy Rose vanished in a crack of white light.

Fuming silently, Illumina stormed over to her ornate golden throne and threw herself into it, her fingers drumming a tattoo into its arm rest. It was essential to have the girl removed from her crystal, for once she had her out, she had her soul. And once she had her soul, she had the moon's power.

Of course, this was all depending on the words Sonic the Hedgehog had spoken to her in Robotnik's base had been true; that Amy's love for him was the source of her power. Possessing her soul meant that, technically, she possessed her love for him.

_But to do that, I need the crystal! _Illumina thought, barely restraining herself from screaming once more. _How is it that Lumina has confounded even _me? _Has she made it so that only _I _cannot open it? No, that's impossible; Epona couldn't open it either. Perhaps only a Mobian? Or maybe only a member of that ridiculous hedgehog's group..._

The fact that she had, for once, failed to overcome a magical barrier frightened Illumina; was Amy Rose the one thing she could not master? _Surely not, _Illumina snorted aloud at the very prospect. _Love does not conquer deadly skill. Only books can get away with waffling that crap._

But a nagging voice at the back of her head thought otherwise. _They've killed you before, _it whispered, and the faces of Sonic and Amy flashed before her eyes. _What's to say they won't do it again?_

"Very well," Illumina muttered aloud, her eyes fixed upon the Precious Stone. "If I cannot master her, I _will _kill her. But first I must have the crystal opened. And to do that, I need Sonic the Hedgehog."

So Illumina closed her eyes, became as still as possible, and began to plot.


	26. To Hell Again

A swish of silver fabric caught Void's eye, making him look up for the first time in days. "Ah, Epona," he said, raising his eyes to face his accomplice. "I was wondering when -"

He broke off, his eyes widening in wonder; before him was one of the strangest sights he had ever seen, and he had seen a _lot _of strange things. Amy Rose was before him, suspended upright, standing motionless inside a purely white, translucent crystal whose light bounced off the walls of his prison. Her hands were pressed against the surface of her, and though her face was perfectly expressionless, he couldn't help but wonder if she was aware of her predicament.

"Oh gods, Epona," he breathed, managing to tear his gaze away from the Mobian so that he could stare incredulously at Epona. "How did you manage to pull this off?"

The Maginaire's smile could not have been any smugger. "Illumina was kind enough to provide us with her, just as you said she would be."

"And is she acting exactly as I suspected she would?" Void questioned, allowing his gaze to drift back to Amy.

"Of course. But I, unlike our dear goddess friend, have sensed a change in Amy's condition; being constantly pummelled by Illumina's magic has made this even more apparent."

Void looked questioningly at his companion, then drifted forwards, letting his eyes slide closed, and, very slowly, he placed his hand upon the surface of the Mobian's crystal. Immediately, his mind was assaulted with hundreds of facts, all jostling and fighting for position. Dreams, thoughts, memories, facts, opinions and bodily statistics, all flooding through his brain like a flash flood, and they should have been sufficient enough to write a perfectly accurate biography on the girl, yet there was something wrong with her. He couldn't quite place his finger on it, but if he had to describe it, he would have said she was-

"Hollow," Void breathed, his eyes snapping open as he turned to face Epona once more. The Maginaire bowed her head, lips curled into a satisfied smile.

"Exactly," she murmured, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "Her soul, which Illumina is so desperately trying to possess, is not in her body." She paused for a moment, and then continued, her voice sounding anguished. "It seems pointless that after all our efforts, we're about to be thwarted by a misplacement. Do you have any idea where her soul might be?"

_Of course, _Void thought, doing his best to keep his annoyance from his face. _Lumina's amulet. Inside Sonic the Hedgehog. But I am not about to tell _you _that, Epona._

Doing his best to sound fretful, Void shook his head, and punched one fist into his palm for good measure. "I don't. But rest assured, we will find it. You've done well, Epona, exceptionally so; but now I really must be alone. I need to put the finishing touches on our plan."

Epona's face was flushed with happiness at his false compliment. "Of course," she murmured, sounding slightly breathless, and in a graceful twirl she vanished once more, leaving Void alone beside the unconscious Mobian. _Fool, _he thought, smiling maliciously as he thought of how well he had played Epona. _She has no idea how much of a tool she really is. Shouldn't one as supposedly smart as her realize that I cannot share the throne with her?_

In fact, the candidate for this position once Illumina had met her demise was his sister, Lumina. Lumina, who was his sister, a creature of Light Maginaryworld, one who should have been his bitter enemy, and yet they had a freakish tolerance for each other. Lumina, who had sacrificed everything, even her life, to aid him in his ill-fated quest to make Amy Rose love him. Lumina, who was running around Mobius with Sonic the Hedgehog...

_She'll come around, _Void told himself, letting his eyes unfocus. _She cannot deny that her loyalties lay with me. And that's assuming that I survive the encounter with Illumina, which I should, because little does she know, her secret weapon lies, in fact with me._

For the goddess of Maginaryworld rightly believed that the key to destroying Mobius was to possess both Sonic the Hedgehog's and Amy Rose's power. But love, as Illumina so moronically thought, could not be stolen or captured; it had to be won, earned and because of this, the closest you could get to possessing the moon's power was to tame the girl who wielded them.

A slightly anguished look crept into Void's eyes as they refocused, once more upon the Mobian's oblivious form. _Why is it that everything, _everything, _seems to revolve around this girl?_

Knuckles collapsed, heaving and spluttering, upon a cold stone floor. Though the journey between dimensions had not been demanding, he was none the less exhausted, probably because of how hard it had been to fight to get to the city center. But knowing that getting up was more important than catching his breath, the echidna forced himself to his feet, and saw, to his horror, that only Sonic and Lumina were at his side.

"The others!" he shouted, causing Sonic to jump violently in alarm. "Where are they?"

Lumina, who was gulping down choked, ragged breaths, flopped onto her back like a fish out of water, her eyes clenched shut, pixie-like form heaving with each breath. "Here," she gasped out, almost idly waving her hand through the air. Immediately, their surroundings faded to black, then instantly reformed themselves into the heart of the city. Though the wind was still howling impossibly loud, he could hear, and though the rain was pelting the ground in iron sheets, he was neither hindered nor wet because of it. He was watching their final moments on Mobius from a ghost's point of view.

He watched as their group was swept off their feet, each of them – albeit Lumina – tumbling head over heels towards the gaping cloud's center. Suddenly, seven ropes fashioned purely of golden light cracked into existence and wrapped themselves around each of their forms, anchoring them to the ground.

Lumina alone seemed to be unaffected by the storm, for she twirled and danced through the air, her hands glowing with magic as she shouted, "I CALL UPON THE POWERS OF LOVE AND NATURE TO HELP ME TAKE THESE CREATURES TO VANQUISH THE ONE WHO HAS INFECTED THEIR LAND WITH DARKNESS! SPIRITS OF THE LIGHT, LEND ME YOUR POWER!"

What happened next would have been hard to comprehend even without the chaos around them; a massive circle the size of a curving tennis court appeared upon the ground beneath Lumina, with twelve smaller circles inside it, each inscribed with a different black symbol that he could not comprehend. Meanwhile, there was an explosion that would put a supernova to shame above them, and a dozen pillars of cyan blue light shot out of the center of the black hole above them, twisting and spiralling in a graceful dance as they sped downwards at light speed, each of them slamming onto a different symbol. The pillars became still and widened at an incredibly fast rate, until they had joined together to become nothing more than a single column of cyan light, Lumina lost in its depths.

Less than a second after the little Maginaire had vanished, both Knuckles and Sonic were cut away from their ropes, and they tumbled heads over heels until they breached the surface of the light, ripples emanating out from the places they had vanished. Meanwhile, Rouge, Tails, Cosmo, Cream and Cheese were slammed forcibly together, and the ropes anchoring them to the ground rose up and formed a cage around them, a cage that rapidly became an opaque orb. The moment it had solidified, it vanished, leaving not a trace of the creatures that had just disappeared behind it. The column of light in which he, Sonic and Lumina had disappeared inside was growing thinner and thinner, and in less than ten seconds, it was nothing more than a single cyan strand, before that, too was whisked away. The chaotic remains of Mobius City faded to black, and then Knuckles was standing in a noise free corridor once more, feeling disoriented.

The trip from Mobius to wherever they were now had been confusing, full of flashing, insubstantial colours and equal unreal temperatures, changing from burning heat to bitter cold and back again in less than a second. The only real things in the world had been Sonic and Lumina, and then the next thing he knew, the world had reformed itself, into, well-

Knuckles looked around for the first time, taking in every detail; if they were in Maginaryworld, he had not seen this part of it before. If he had to guess, he would have said they were in some sort of castle, with depressing, cold stone walls, narrow walls and very dim light that did not seem to have a traceable source. Wooden, handle-less doors lined the walls, from behind which shuddering moans or agonizing screams would emanate with horrible regularity.

"Where are we?" Sonic hissed from beside him, his light green eyes roving around the corridor. Lumina, who seemed to have recovered while they watched their final moments on Mobius, drifted upright, her translucent silvery wings trailing hundreds of glittering sparkles.

"The Temple of Light," she murmured, one hand clasping her glowing red amulet as if to dim its light. "The dungeons, that is. I try not to come down here if I can avoid it."

"Where are the others?" Knuckles demanded in a low hiss, picturing Rouge.

At his words, Lumina's mouth twisted into a humourless half-smile. "I sent them into non-being. They were asleep while it happened, so they shouldn't have felt any pain."

"And _why _did you do that?" Sonic asked, sounding exasperated.

Lumina looked at him through thoughtful, crafty blue eyes. "Their desires to help, though great, were not as profound as yours. At any rate, they are as safe as Amy right now, and their freedom depends on our success; we must kill Illumina if any of us are to have a future."

Knuckles nodded moodily, lamenting the loss of Rouge, who was a formidable fighter and would have been useful in the coming battle. _And I didn't even get to say good-bye, _the echidna thought, shaking his head sorrowfully. _Damn it, if I never see her again-_

"COSMO!" Sonic shouted suddenly, tearing Knuckles away from his thoughts.

"I beg your pardon?" Lumina asked bewilderedly, but Sonic waved his hands frantically through the air, looking panicked.

"Amy's soul was in her amulet! Cosmo's not with us! How are we going to free her?" the hedgehog demanded, staring accusingly into Lumina's eyes, but the Maginaire was shaking her head, a pacifying look upon her face.

"I thought of that; before I cut you two loose, I transferred Amy's soul from Cosmo's amulet into your body, Sonic. Amy's not waking up unless we want her to."

"Damn, you thought of everything," Knuckles muttered, slightly overwhelmed. "How to get to Maginaryworld, who to take, where to put people's souls..."

Both Sonic and Lumina laughed at his words, though Lumina's trailed off fairly quickly, smile replaced by a troubled look, and her eyes flashed quickly between Knuckles and Sonic, as though afraid they were about to ask something. Sure enough, Sonic seemed to remember something, and his eyes snapped up so that they were fixed upon Lumina's face, boring intently into her eyes.

"Why are you helping us, Lumina?" he demanded, and though Lumina tried to look away, his gaze held hers. "What happened?"

"I knew you were going to ask that," the Maginaire sighed, closing her eyes and turning her head to the side, looking defeated. "I was intending to explain myself, and I know this must have all been very confusing to you two, but I was worried what you think of me once I told you the truth..." she let her eyes snapped open, and stared pleading between Knuckles and Sonic as she whispered, "Please don't think too badly of me once you know the truth."

Taking a deep breath, Lumina gathered her thoughts, then launched into speech. "Maginaryworld is, as you saw on your first trip here, a world of light. But, as you know, light creates shadow, so beneath Maginaryworld lies Dark Maginaryworld."

"Hold up," Sonic said, his eyes widening in incredulity as he goggled Lumina. "There are _two _Maginaryworlds?"

Lumina smiled wryly. "Yes," she murmured, allowing her eyes to slide closed once more. "You've seen part of Dark Maginaryworld before, when Illumina succumbed to her own darkness. Part of it seeped into Light Maginaryworld, and, had it not been for you four, it would have destroyed it.

"I am a creature of light; hopeful and kind and what you Mobians would call _good. _For Light Maginaires, Dark Maginaryworld is a sort of hell, always dwelling beneath us, a place of horror, despair. Dark Maginaires are the foulest of the foul, some as bad as Illumina herself, and to them, our world was hell, full of love and light and such...

"Each half knew of the others' existence, and it was the wish of many to destroy their interpreted hell. But shadow and light are two sides of the same coin, and so cannot be destroyed; if Light Maginaryworld triumphed, it would have destroyed the part of itself that casts shadows – light – and would have ceased to exist; if Dark Maginaryworld triumphed, it would have destroyed its creator and sealed its demise. So, naturally, the ruler of Maginaryworld had to have been composed of a creature from both worlds; Void and I were created to be these halves, and when together, we formed Illumina.

"Most creatures cannot stand to be in the company of a Maginaire from the other world, and yet Void and I, brother and sister, part of eachother, were the one exception to the rule, both hating other denizens yet freakishly fond of each other.

"Before Illumina was corrupt, she favoured Light Maginaryworld, and so when she was corrupted, the other half began to seep through the barrier she had cast between them. But when she got her own body, it meant that she had to choose on world to dominate once and for all; it was a choice that she did not make knowingly, but by slaughtering all those creatures from all those planets, by sacrificing Void and I for her own gain and forcing Cosmo to give up her life in order to contribute to her defeat, she chose Dark Maginaryworld to triumph.

"What you have to understand," Lumina whispered, and she clenched her eyes shut tighter, shaking slightly as she hovered in mid-air. "Is that I loved Void. He as my brother, and I was willing to give up everything for him, even my life, if it meant it would help him. In the end, that was exactly what it ended up costing me; my life. Void tried to carry out a...a task for Illumina, and it lead to both of our deaths."

"Which was -?" Knuckles prompted, raising an eyebrow, intrigued. Lumina seemed to be struggling internally, and when she finally spoke, it sounded as though the words were wrenched from her mouth against her will.

"Illumina believed that, originally, to gain her own body, both Void and I had to be whole. I, as a creature of Maginaryworld, she believed, was already whole, but Void was not, and so she had to find a way to make him so.

"She believed that...that if he could be loved...then he would have been whole. That the sacrifice's power was destined for _him."_

Knuckles' eyes widened in horror at the revelation, and he automatically turned to see Sonic's reaction. The hedgehog was shaking violently, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, and he looked like a volcano about to erupt. Finally, he managed to say, in a choked voice shaking with rage, "You mean that that freak – that _Amy - _"

"Marriage," Lumina whispered, sounding mortified. At her words, Sonic gave a strangled growl and punched the air before him so viciously that it hissed. "If his plan succeeded, he and Amy would be bound together more securely than the Fates have bound you and Illumina. Thankfully, his plan fell apart, and if there is anything we have to thank Illumina for, it is that.

"When Illumina returned to body, however, it meant the return of all of her subjects and the reformation of both worlds. Void and I both returned to life, but we were no longer part of Illumina, and a certain connection between us had been lost. Void wanted revenge, enraged at being disposed of, and intended to seek out the help of a Dark Maginaire who had long loved him, a vile creature with a coveted connection with Illumina.

"Epona."

"Epona?" Knuckles and Sonic repeated, both incredulous at the name of Illumina's servant.

"Yes," Lumina confirmed bitterly, her eyes still closed, shaking her head disgustedly from side to side. "Though, I suppose it is not _actual _love; a Dark Maginaire is incapable of such a feeling. Anyway, Illumina, guessing Void's plan, imprisoned him inside these very dungeons, knowing what he was capable. His cell has been magically enhanced so that it is impossible to teleport out of, and the only people capable of entering are the goddess herself and Epona. Yes, Void has picked his pawn well."

"Doesn't Epona suspect that Void might try to betray her?" Knuckles demanded, incredulous that anyone could be that stupid. Lumina shook her head bitterly, a humourless smile upon her face.

"No. And nor does Illumina. Each thinks that their allies are mindless, incapable of mutiny. But, that is the price of evil, I suppose. This was exactly why I refused to join forces with Void; what's to say that he would not spring mutiny upon his own sister?"

The Maginaire took a deep, steadying breath through her nose, then continued."The only reason I was not imprisoned was because Illumina believed my desire for revenge was not as great as my brother's, and why would it be? Revenge is a dish best served cold, and I'm sure my brother will have no problem with the temperature. But I suppose that since I decided to help you in your quest to defeat her, Illumina has changed her mind about me, though I have been proving very hard to catch.

"I refused to help Void and Epona, and so we cannot expect any mercy from them if we end up encountering them," Lumina paused for a moment, apparently thinking about something, and then, quite abruptly, she exploded passionately into speech.

"I hate the creatures of Dark Maginaryworld! I will do anything to defy them, to make Void pay for what he has cost me, the trust of my friends! You asked me what reverted me to good, and I'm telling you. Since Illumina's change of heart, Dark Maginaryworld has been running wild, overrunning light with crushing blackness. You saw only a small fraction of the fear that that hell is capable of inducing two years ago. Now multiply that by a hundred, immerse it in acid and throw in the terror and confusion of eternal light. Picture beaches with acid for water and terrifying tentacle sea monsters dragging Maginaires beneath the surface. Imagine being trapped in out space with horrific constellations everywhere you look. Think about being lost in a forest with flesh-eating plants and shadowy fiends who are forever waiting to attack you. That is what my people are going through right now. That is, the ones who have submitted to Illumina's will; most have been killed, some are imprisoned in these very walls," the little fairy gestured sorrowfully to the freezing cold stone corridor they were standing in. "I doubt if even one of these prisoners is a Dark Maginaire."

Lumina took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and then, in a voice choked with emotion, whispered, "As the sort of ruler of Light Maginaryworld, I am begging you; forgive me for the heartache I have caused you, and give me this one last favour. Once again, I must ask you to help me free Maginaryworld."

"Of course," Sonic scoffed, sounding exasperated at the Maginaire's doubts. "What kind of friends would we be if we refused?"

Knuckles nodded in agreement. "What's Illumina's plan?" he asked gruffly, and at his words, Sonic and Lumina looked at him as though he had three heads. Rolling his eyes, the echidna growled, "I mean besides killing us all."

"Her plan is vile," Lumina spat bitterly, opening her eyes and fixing them sourly upon Knuckles. "She wants Mobius to suffer as long as possible, and then she will destroy it. After that, she will allow Maginaryworld to branch out from the place your planet vacates, and then, I believe she intends to destroy the universe, and ultimately, reality. _That, _she believes, will be fitting revenge."

"She's insane," Knuckles muttered, shaking his head in something like awe. At this, Sonic winked, laughing, "Since when aren't the bad guys?" Then, turning to Lumina, he asked, "How long do we have?"

Lumina looked thoughtfully at the ceiling, allowing her eyes to unfocus. "Three hundred years...no, wait, two hours. Time flies when you're in Maginaryworld."

_Two hours to save the universe, _Knuckles thought grimly. _That sounds about right._

"Amy," Lumina began in a soft murmur, her eyes closed, one hand in front of her face and turned to the side so that it was pressing against the bridge of her nose. "Is on the third floor above us, the twentieth door on the right, and guarded by two Maginaires. Let's assume they're not friendly."

"Alright," Sonic said, his voice mocking, cocky, as it always was before they did something extremely dangerous. "Let's get going. Knucklehead, Lumy, it's been a pleasure."

"And mine," Lumina murmured, her laughter tinkling like wind chimes. She made to turn and fly away from them, but then seemed to remember something and, wordlessly, she waved her hand through the air, causing green currents to run down both Sonic's and Knuckles' forms, vanishing their bodies in the places they passed over. When nothing of either Mobian was visible, Lumina smiled slightly, satisfied with her handiwork, and then turned and flew down the corridor, speeding like a bullet through total blackness, her infinite trail of sparkles marking her path.

Knuckles turned and nodded stiffly in the direction he had last seen Sonic, then turned and sprinted after Lumina, trying to be as quiet as possible. He felt a rush of unnatural wind blow past him and was certain the Sonic had just outstripped him.

The only sounds were their laboured breathing, the sound of their footsteps echoing off the lifeless stone walls. The corridor twisted and wound, and even if it had not been so dark, Knuckles would have been long since lost. Lumina seemed to know where she was going, taking forks in the path without hesitation, apparently not feeling the need to inform him or Sonic as to where they were going. Suddenly, the little Maginaire froze, throwing out one arm in silent warning for them to stop. As silent as shadows, Sonic and Knuckles crept forwards, stifling their breathing, their eyes roving about the dark passage before them, searching for the cause of Lumina's alarm. It became apparent quite quickly; a massive, ogre-like creature was blocking the path before them, so tall that it had to stoop, so wide that it took up the entire width of the corridor. Muscles and veins bulged with frightening prominence from beneath its deepest purple skin, and it wore only a filthy ragged loincloth for clothing. A heavy, bloodstained mace was clutched in its meaty fingers, and its single, blood red eye widened in surprise as it spotted Lumina, apparently alone. Knuckles bit back a growl, sinking into a half-crouch, but before he had time to do more than inhale, Lumina raised one hand, frowning as though the monstrosity before her was naught but a minor inconvenience, and then, with a noise like a laser beam being fired, a mass of blinding lavender energy ballooned at her shoulder, narrowing to a fine layer that coated her arm before blasting out of her outstretched palm. Faster than the eye could see, the beam of light rammed into the center of the monster's eye, and its roar of outrage and surprise cut off with a gurgle when it was blasted off of its gnarled feet, flying a full ten feet before ramming onto the ground with bone-rattling force. Dust and cement splinters pelted the ground around them, and Knuckles instinctively threw his arms over his head, clenching his eyes shut to protect them.

When the debris settled, the echidna slowly lowered his hands, gaping incredulously at the Maginaire before him, unaccustomed to being rendered useless. "Wow," Knuckles muttered, sounding impressed, and Lumina gave a mock bow before hissing, "Let's go."

Obediently, Knuckles launched himself over the unconscious ogre's form, landing slightly heavier than he would have liked, but he recovered almost instantly and sprinted down the remaining distance between them and – _A blank wall?_

_But this is Maginaryworld, _said a snide voice in his head. _And nothing is as it seems._

Sure enough, when they were a mere ten strides away from the wall, three lines constructed of rainbow light formed a door shape in its center, drawn as if by an invisible artist's hand. The rectangle flashed blinding white, and then, a glossy black door appeared, an ornate golden handle twinkling in the part-light. Lumina reached the door first, grabbing the handle with a snarl of concentration upon her face. But to Knuckles' alarm, the Maginaire screamed in pain and whipped her hand away, tears of pain pouring down her face.

"It burned me!" she moaned, cradling her injured hand.

"Leave it to me," Sonic growled, and Knuckles heard the hedgehog retreat several steps before launching himself forwards with a sonic _boom. _A split second later, there was the sound of wood splintering into a hundred pieces as a large circular hole appeared in the glossy black surface. Knuckles smiled appreciatively and flung himself corkscrew-style through the gap, followed by Lumina, who wasted no time in hurtling herself up the steep, winding onyx staircase that was spiralling up the cylindrical cold stone walls that pressed uncomfortably closely in on them. Knuckles did his best to keep up with her, taking the stairs three at a time, his breath coming in short gasps. They doors identical to the one Sonic had broken through, only distinguishable from the rest of the walls by the alien symbols marked up them in something horribly like blood.

"Stop!" Lumina cried, throwing her arms out as she hurtled to a halt. "This is where we want to be!"

There was an unnatural rush of wind, and then a Sonic-shaped hole appeared in the wood, splintering the bloody symbol apart. Lumina preceded Knuckles this time, her silvery wings no more distinct than translucent blurs. Clambering after her, the echidna was instantly met with a horrific sight; a monstrous, three headed dog with matted crimson fur was barring their way, each of its heads snarling ferociously as they spotted Lumina. All six of its nostrils flared as it caught the scent of Knuckles and Sonic, sensing some sort of trickery, even though they could not see them. Curling yellow teeth protruded from its rippling lips, dripping saliva, and each of its claws was razor sharp and about two feet long.

"Oh my!" Lumina gasped, too stunned to try to incapacitate the beast, _Oh my _really seem to grasp what they were seeing.

The beast lowered itself close to the ground, bulging muscles tensing as it prepared to spring, but before it could attack, there was a supersonic boom and suddenly, the abomination was thrown backwards, flying between the closely-set walls like a tennis ball caught in a deadly crossfire, each contact sounding like a thousand avalanches roaring down a mountain at once, growling and yelping in fear and pain as it was mauled by an invisible something, stunned at being abused like this.

Suddenly, the beast collapsed onto the ground, limbs splayed, tongues lolling out in an almost comical way, bruised, battered, and ultimately defeated. Knuckles let out a low whistle, impressed once again, and he could have sworn he heard applause sound from a couple of doors that were close by.

"Quick!" Lumina hissed, flying over the incapacitated dog, too urgent to be impressed. "Amy is close by! Jump over the beast, and be silent!"

Knuckles sprinted forwards, running low to the ground, tightening himself into a spring-like coil, preparing to leap, and with a grunt of effort, he flung himself into the air, arms wind milling in an effort to get maximum distance. He landed heavily just beyond the dog's hind paws, and then, without breaking stride, continued his death sprint after Lumina's retreating form, forcing himself to run faster and faster, Sonic's short gasps of breath sounding from in front of him.

They wound and twisted down the ice cold passageway, the terrified screams that sounded from beyond closed doors silence as the occupants sensed a change in the air. The entire world seemed to hold its breath as they sprinted onwards, their every hope latched to the little Maginaire leading the way. After an eternity, Lumina skidded to a halt, her gaze fixed upon the door that would have been utterly unremarkable if not for the blinding white glow emanating from beneath the crack between it and the floor.

From beside him, Knuckles felt Sonic tense in preparation to break down the door, but Lumina hissed, "No! The door is enchanted, you won't be able to break it down! Give me a minute, I will undo its protection!" And with that, Lumina let her eyes slide closed, hands clasped around her amulet, murmuring in some fluid, alien language he could not understand.

Sensing that there was nothing he could do to help Lumina, Knuckles folded his arms across his chest and set about glaring at the shadows. _We're so close, _he thought, staring unseeingly into blackness. _Every time we've encountered this freak in the past three weeks has resulted in death of some kind. Let's hope this one ends in her death._

Suddenly, Knuckles' eyes snapped back into focus, for he saw something shift in the shadows before him. "Huh?" he growled, squinting into the blackness, muscles tightening, and as he took a hesitant step forwards, Lumina cried, "Done! Let's go!"

Knuckles did not turn, for his years of guarding the Master Emerald screamed against allowing the unexplained movement in the shadows go uninvestigated, but he knew that freeing Amy was more important than playing guard dog at the moment, and it was with a heavy heart that he turned and slipped through the opened door after Sonic and Lumina. A gasp of surprise was wrenched unwillingly from his lips as he took in his surroundings; it was as if he had stepped from the ancient past into the far future, gone from Maginaryworld back to Mobius. This new room was about as contrasting from the hallway outside it as possible; the walls were a dark, metallic blue, the floor metallic silver tiles, and the silence was punctuated by the soft humming of dozens of machines, all situatated in the middle of the room, where the source of the blinding white light was coming from.

Amy was suspended before them, her position inside her crystal unchanged from when they had last encountered her. Dozens of thick black tubes were fixed to the side of her crystal, running along the floor and feeding themselves into the sides of countless monitors and instruments, all of them spewing readouts displayed in glittering green symbols he could not understand.

"Amy," Sonic murmured, and Knuckles looked around to see an electric blue line running down his friend's form, making his body reappear. An identical line ran down his own form, something the echidna was extremely grateful for.

Beside him, Sonic took a step forwards, one hand outstretched, his eyes glassy, reflecting their friend's unconscious form, but suddenly, the sounds of outraged shouts sounded from the other side of the door, causing the hedgehog to freeze. With a gasp of horror, Lumina whipped around, slashing her hand through the air and causing hundreds of jagged bolts of electric blue energy to run along the door. There was the sound of a heavy body slamming itself against the door, followed instantly by a muffled shout of pain.

Knuckles couldn't think, let alone speak; his heart was pounding loudly in his ears, paralyzing him to the spot, rendering him incapable of doing anything but listening to their enemies pound upon the thin strip of wood that was all that separated them from capture. Lumina's crystalline blue eyes flickered between the door, Amy, Sonic, and back again, and then, after a moment, settled upon Knuckles.

"What?" he demanded, automatically taking a step back. Lumina regarded him sorrowfully for a moment, and then, in a voice choked with sadness, murmured, "I never should have brought you along, Knuckles. You are not the sun or the moon."

"Huh?" Knuckles gaped at the Maginaire, unable to understand what the cause was for her sudden change of heart. "Does it make a difference? I still wanna help you beat Illumina!"

"It is not your destiny," Lumina responded, closing her eyes, both hands glowing with golden energy. "It was my mistake." She raised her hands so that they were both facing palm out and at him, and then, letting her eyes slide open, she whispered, "Goodbye, Knuckles."

"No!" Knuckles shouted, backing away even faster. "Sonic, wait, stop her -"

But his request was cut off by a burst of sound as two bolts of golden energy rocketed towards him, forming a molten gold cage around him. The moment he was enveloped, Knuckles was seized, incredibly, by the desire to shut his eyes, to be removed from the chaos that was Maginaryworld, to not have to think, or breathe...

Sonic watched the orb that had swallowed Knuckles vanish, presumably ferrying him to the place Tails and the others were waiting, unsure as to what he was feeling at the moment. Sorrow, yes, but also the faintest trace of relief. There was now one less friend he had to worry about keeping alive.

Then the door was kicked down, and he suddenly decided that having Knuckles here wouldn't be such a bad thing after all. Epona drifted in, her dazzling smile lighting up her entire face, radiating smugness.

"Why, hello there, hedgehog," she hissed, her hands curled into fists at her sides. "It's been too long."

"Same here," Sonic growled, a savage smile playing about his lips as he glared at the Maginaire before him. "But I thought you might have decided to buy a pair of sunglasses."

Epona let out a strangled hiss of anger, and Sonic laughed humourlessly; they were trapped, and he knew it. "Illumina denied me my revenge before, Sonic," Epona hissed, her thin lips curling into a ferocious snarl. "but rest assured, I will have it."

"You know, I might actually believe you if I couldn't see the bluff in your eyes," Sonic retorted, and Epona let out a positive scream of hatred, and at the same time, another person floated in behind the screaming girl, face, hands, and feet hidden by a smoky grey robe, obviously another Dark Maginaire.

Epona, meanwhile, had stopped screaming, for she had spotted Lumina, and for a moment, her look of utmost fury vanished, to be replaced by the dumbstruck look that suggested she had just gotten some very bad news.

"Lumina?" she said blankly, and Sonic could almost see her eyes widening in fear. _"You _have been helping these scum infiltrate the Temple?"

"Wait," her partner said his voice dead, hollow. "Three entered this room, and yet only two stand before us."

"Where is your friend, little hedgehog?" Epona hissed, sounding more catlike than ever as her hands curled into fists. "Did you tell him to hide? Did you think that you would be able to ambush us?"

Both Sonic and Lumina let out disdainful laughs, shaking their heads in mock admiration. "There were only ever two," Lumina responded acidly, no trace of a bluff in her tinkling voice.

"You must really be losing your touch, Epona," Sonic growled, a taunting smile playing about his lips as he glared at the furious Maginaire. "I'd recommend getting your eyes checked."

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" screamed Epona, and with an outraged snarl, she slashed her hand through the air, sending a long length of onyx black rope crackling towards them. Sonic tried to roll out of harm's way, but it was too little too late, for with a noise like a whip crack, one end of the rope lashed out and slammed him forcibly against Lumina, binding itself tightly around their torsos, crushing the air from their lungs. Gasping in pain, Lumina let out a stream of mixed swearwords and spells, and bright lavender sparks cackled along the rope, which steamed and hissed, absorbing the little sparks like a dragon swallowing raindrops. Epona, her cheeks still flushed with anger, let out a malicious snarl of triumph and with another slash of her hand, thick black gags unravelled into existence and bound themselves around their mouths. The Maginaire bared her teeth, looking more feline than ever, and whispered, "Make all the snide comments you want, little hedgehog; they are all you have now." Turning to face her companion, she asked, "Ready to go?"

The other Maginaire merely nodded, drifting almost unconsciously to stand beside Amy's crystal, his concealed hand hovering inches from its surface. Eyes widening in horrified comprehension, Sonic struggled more violently against his bonds, shouting furiously, "Nughh! Nughh Am!"

Epona looked over her shoulder at him, a malevolent smile upon her lips, looking extremely reminiscent of the goddess to whom she was bound to, and then she seized him painfully by the quills, making no attempt to be gentle with him, and with a hiss of, "One, two, three!" she dragged him and Lumina into a place where neither space nor time existed. Their surroundings melted and warped, changing colour and temperature, and snatches of whispered conversation breezed past him, too faint for him to make out what they were saying. Almost as soon as it had happened, the experience ended, their surroundings solidified once more, but Sonic would have given anything – except Amy's soul – to be back in the place they were before.

This new place was, contrasting to the dungeons, full of dazzling white light that put that of Amy's crystal to shame. It was massive, cylindrical and opened up to the heavens, which was streaked with stars and clouds of multicoloured light. A stone altar was in the middle of the room, upon which an ornate golden throne sat, reflecting the light from the Precious Stone. But all of these details were side attractions to Sonic, noticed out of the corner of his eye. His attention was focused solely on the woman before him, tall and incredibly thin, clothed in flowing robes of pink and white, her skin as pale as bone, a sheet of silvery blonde hair travelling down her back. She was facing away from them, but Sonic could see that her hands were balled into fists, shaking very slightly, whether from rage or fear he did not know.

Illumina.

Sonic's dominant emotion was absolute hatred, and most of his mind was focused upon the magnitude of the goddess' crimes and the horrible indifference in which she did them. But there was also fear thrown into that hate, for he knew that this encounter with Illumina could very well be his last, and not in a good way.

"My lady," murmured Epona, bowing deeply as she released Sonic's quills and drifted forwards, her companion at her side. "I have found the intruders. They are here with me now."

"Well done, Epona," responded Illumina, turning around at last, her divine face devoid of all emotion. Her dark brown, almost black eyes flickered towards the hooded Maginaire at her side, and in an almost thoughtful voice, she asked, "Who is your friend?"

Epona's lips curved into a half-smile, but her voice was emotionless when she answered simply, "A Dark Maginaire."

Illumina did not, apparently need more answer than that, and she turned from Epona to face Sonic and Lumina, her eyes widening slightly when she took in the latter. "Lumina," she hissed, sounding both incredulous and unsurprised. _"You _have been helping this hedgehog? Betrayed my secrets?"

She waved her hand almost idly through the air, and both Sonic and Lumina's gags vanished. Lumina spat and coughed in disgust, then raised her head to face Illumina, her eyes sparkling with hatred. "Don't play dumb, Illumina; you knew I was helping them all along."

Illumina cocked her head to the side, a slight smile upon her face. Taking slow, deliberate steps forwards, the goddess shortened the distance between them to ten feet, then stopped, revelling in the tense silence that had consumed the Temple of Light. "Do you think you are above my laws, since I did not imprison you, as I did your brother?"

Lumina snorted in disgust. "Is that what you think? That you have _power _over me? That your twisted laws govern my actions? You may have tortured my fellows into submission, or killed those who would not comply, but mark my words, Illumina, you will never break me. Kill me if you wish, but I will not bow down to you."

Illumina recoiled as though struck, a stunned expression upon her face. Lumina made a contemptuous noise, then spat on the floor at Illumina's feet. At this, Epona let out a strangled hiss and made to move forwards, but Illumina waved her back.

"Stand down Epona," she cautioned in a warning voice. Obediently, Epona and her partner drifted backwards, recoiling into the shadows. Illumina turned her gaze back towards them, a mocking smile upon her lips. "Brave words," the goddess hissed, shaking her head in mock admiration. "for a naive fairy such as yourself. Be sure of this, I _will _kill you, but first you will break open Amy Rose's crystal."

Both Sonic and Lumina laughed openly, for neither had any desire to give the goddess what she wanted. "Too bad," Lumina hissed, scorn etched upon every line in her face. "You're fighting for a lost cause."

"You know," Sonic snarled, the hatred upon his face smothering the terror that was flaring inside him. "I don't think you've spoken truer words in your life than the ones you said in that cave; there's nothing there worth throwing your life away for."

"Amy Rose's soul was lost when you possessed her body," Lumina finished, no trace of a bluff in her voice. Illumina was untroubled, shaking her head from side to side as a teacher would at a badly lying child.

"Such _lies, _Lumina. It seems remarkable," she whispered, her voice ringing with malice as she began to circle around their bound forms, as a lioness would her prey. "that you two would go to such lengths to save a dead body."

"A ruse," Lumina declared, portraying triumph perfectly. "Mere proof of my superiority, of your stupidity! Plus, I got to show you your defeat over and over again."

Sonic wondered if, by chance, Illumina had been replaced by a snake; she let out a reptilian hiss so venomous that it took every ounce of his strength not to let his disdainful mask slip from his face. For a moment, the goddess of Maginaryworld stared at them, fear plain upon her face, but then her cruel, twisted mask was back, another evil smile upon her lips. "Very well," she whispered, in a voice that suggested that nothing was, in fact, well. "If, as you claim, Amy Rose is dead, I have no further use for her. Epona, throw the girl over the edge of the Temple; I want to kill these fools."

Sonic felt as though he had been dropped into a bucket of ice. Though throwing Amy over the edge of the Temple of Light would not kill her, he was sure that if she was allowed to tumble through endless blackness, any chance they had of rescuing her would vanish. Illumina was playing a very smart game, forcing their hand, if they had one. He knew that he could not allow Illumina to possess Amy's soul, something he would prevent at all costs.

But could he make Amy take the fall for him?

"STOP!" he thundered, panic making his voice bordering on deafening. Beside him, Lumina gave a little frustrated moan, while Illumina's face split into a joyous smile. His shout echoed off the stone walls, bouncing around until it petered into non-existence, and for a moment, silence was absolute. Illumina stared at their bound forms for a moment, then slashed her hand through the air, cutting the ropes that bound them together apart, causing Sonic and Lumina to collapse onto all fours, both gasping for breath, revelling in their unrestrained breathing.

"So," whispered Illumina, halting in her pacing, her eyes fixed upon his face. "The hedgehog decides to crack. Well then, Sonic, get a move on it; touch Amy's crystal. Let's hope for your sake that you do not try to lie to me again."

Sonic fixed Illumina with the most contemptuous look he could as he forced himself to his feet. From beside him, so quiet that Illumina did not have a prayer of hearing what she said, Lumina breathed, _"Lie."_

Sonic forced himself not to react to what the Maginaire had said; he walked as slowly as he dared towards the place where Amy was suspended inside her crystal, every nerve in his body screaming in terror as he passed the point that meant Illumina was on his blind side. He could feel the eyes of Epona and her helper fixed upon his retreating form, but he forced himself to keep his shoulders limp, his walk untroubled, when in fact his heart was threatening to explode out of his chest, pounding with both fear and excitement.

What was he about to see? Obviously, it was significant enough for Lumina to tell him to lie, but it would hopefully not free Amy, because at the moment, there was not a safer place for her than inside her crystal. Would it be the key to Illumina's destruction? Or perhaps instructions that Lumina had not had time to tell him?

At long last, he stood before Amy's crystal, able to do what he had been longing to do for over twenty-four hours. Very slowly, he raised a trembling hand up to hover just before the part of the crystal that Amy's hand was pressing against, and, suddenly afraid, he forced himself to touch it.

Immediately, the blinding light from the Precious Stone was stifled, and Illumina, Epona, her helper and Lumina vanished behind a curtain of shadows. Only Amy's crystal was left untouched and, to his incredulity, she opened her eyes, dark green orbs that were surprisingly alert. An overjoyed smile appeared upon her face when she took in his form, and with a joyous laugh she cried, "Sonic! I knew you'd come for me!"

"Of course I did," Sonic retorted, slightly indignantly. "What kind of friend would I be if I didn't?"

"A bad one," Amy admitted, sinking to her knees and fixing him with a sorrowful stare. "I miss you."

Sonic was unsurprised to find that he felt similarly. "I miss you, too," he muttered, staring at the floor, forcing himself to keep his tears in check. "A lot. How do I get you out of here?"

"Only you can do it," Amy whispered, her eyes sliding closed. "And it has to be at the last minute. As clichéd as it sounds, all hope must be lost."

"And when will that minute come?" Sonic asked, annoyed at, no matter how desperate the situation, things never failed to be cryptic.

"You'll know," Amy answered, smiling slightly at the annoyed look on Sonic's face. "Good luck."

And with that, Sonic opened his eyes, though he was unaware that they had closed. Disoriented slightly, he took in the renewed brightness of the Temple of Light, his eyes watering slightly. Amy was standing upright once more, her eyes closed, no evidence of their conversation present. His arm shaking slightly, Sonic turned and faced Illumina once more, forcing himself to look into his eyes, an effort that felt like it might kill him.

"Well, hedgehog?" Illumina called, glee etched upon her face as she stared intently at him. "What did you see?"

Sonic's eyes did not waver from the goddess' face as, in a fraction of a second, he cast his mind about for something to tell the goddess. Lumina looked deathly pale and slightly shaken, though she had drifted upright, and was staring frantically at him, silently willing him to lie.

"You," Sonic declared finally, no trace of a bluff in his smooth voice as he delivered the words that would make up the small fraction of the payback he owed her. "Right here. When me and Amy and Cosmo beat you. How did it feel, Illumina? To die alone like that?"

For a moment, Illumina stared idiotically at him, her mouth open in a perfect 'o' of horror, incomprehension etched upon her face. But then the look was gone, her mouth was closed, curling into a malicious snarl of a smile. "Why do you think you can lie to me, Sonic?" she asked him, her voice no more than a deadly hiss. "Lie and get away with it?"

Though Sonic kept his face blank, his insides had turned to ice, his stomach dropping down to his feet and shattering into a million pieces. He had no idea how Illumina had seen through his lie, but he knew that, for Amy's sake, he had to keep going. "What lie?" he demanded, matching Illumina's menacing tone of voice with ease.

"Tell the truth, Sonic," Illumina whispered, her voice more deadly than the most lethal venom. "Tell the truth, or you will regret it."

With an effort that felt like it would kill him, Sonic raised his eyes to meet Illumina's, and in a voice choked with hatred, hissed, "Make me."

Illumina's half-smile widened, and then she slashed a clawed hand through the air, fury etched upon her face. There was a split second of silence, and then Lumina was screaming, screaming so loudly it hurt his ears, her form writhing and twisting itself into grotesque displays of pain, her face an anguished mask of agony, tears pouring down her child-like face. She clawed at invisible enemies, rolling end over end, knees drawn up to her chest, and over her agonized screams Illumina shouted, "WHAT DID YOU SEE, SONIC? _WHAT DID YOU SEE?"_

"SONIC!" Lumina managed to scream, twisting her head to stare pleadingly at him. "DON'T TELL HE – _ARGH!" _She cut herself off with a drawn out wail of agony, her back rigid and arching to breaking point, her mouth open in its piercing scream, her eyes as huge as saucers.

"TELL ME!" bawled Illumina, her hands outstretched, fingers curled into claws as her gaze flickered between Lumina's writhing form and Sonic's horrified one. "TELL MEWHAT IT WAS, OR I WILL KILL LUMINA!"

The words berated Sonic's ears, and uncertainty tore through his brain, rendering him incapable of doing anything but staring at Lumina, who was screaming for the pain to end, pleading for death to come, sobbing in her native tongue.

It was like watching Amy in Eggman's machine all over again.

"STOP IT!" shouted Sonic, leaping to his feet, his eyes huge as he stared at Illumina. "STOP IT, I'LL TELL YOU ANYTHING YOU WANT TO KNOW, JUST _STOP IT!"_

Lumina's screams cut off with horrible abruptness, and Sonic forced himself to look away from Illumina to stare at her. The little fairy had collapsed, shaking, upon the floor, her whole form shuddering with each breath, tears pouring down her face, knees drawn up to her chest, but, despite the agony she had just been put through, she was mouthing, _"No, no," _at him, clearly desperate to keep him from telling the truth.

But Sonic was out of lies, out of time to think of them, and out of any tolerance he had harboured for watching his friend being tortured. "I have Amy's soul," Sonic told the goddess, whose face was rapt with attention, taking in every word he had said like a starving man downs food. "I'm the only one who can free her, and if you want it, you're going to have to kill me."

Lumina let out a weak little moan, exasperated at his bravado, but Illumina had ears only for Sonic. A delighted smile upon her face, the goddess clasped her hands beneath her chin, happiness radiating from her beautiful features. "Rest assured, I _will _kill you, hedgehog," she cried, her eyes dancing delightedly. "You are, and always have been, the thing standing between me and immortality. How fitting is it that my last mortal act will be to claim your life!"

"Now that," said a horrible, mock baby voice, sounding seemingly from all around them, terrifyingly familiar. "is where you go wrong, Illumina."

"What is this?" snarled the goddess, a fearsome look upon her face, leeching it of any beauty as she, too, recognized the voice. From out of the shadows stepped Epona and her helper, and both Sonic and Lumina gasped in comprehension. _Of course, _Sonic thought, resisting the urge to smack his own forehead. _He's been here all this time. Clever move, Epona._

With exaggerated slowness, the hooded Maginaire reached up and pulled the smoky grey fabric away from his face. It fell away to reveal a thin, pointed face of palest grey, a curtain of shocking emerald hair framing either side of it. The most hauntingly familiar features, however, were the terrifying, endless amethyst-sapphire eyes that were fixed hatefully upon Illumina, who looked blank with shock.

"Void?" the goddess hissed, incredulous.

"Void!" gasped Lumina, making the name sound like a disgusting swearword.

"Void," Epona declared triumphantly, and her features could not have been any smugger.

Illumina was silent for a minute, and then snapped her fingers, as though she had discovered the answer to an obvious test question. "Of course," she whispered, curling her hands into fists that shook with fury. "A tool with direct access to me and my plans. Someone who knew exactly what was going on in Mobius. You have picked your pawn well, Void."

Void gave a mock little bow, while Epona let out a furious snarl, her hands curling into fists that glowed with purple flames. Clearly, she did not see the flaw that everyone else did.

"Come now, Epona," Illumina scoffed, staring intently at her messenger. "Do you honestly think that you are indispensable? This fool has more power than you could ever dream of. Doesn't it seem too good to be true that the one who you have long loved suddenly returns your feelings, offers unlimited power to you, in exchange for springing him free of a prison? Are you honestly that moronic?"

Epona let out a feral scream of rage, one that drowned out Void's mocking laugh. When her scream died away, Void hissed, "Epona is mine, Illumina; do not try to sway her."

"Perhaps," Illumina allowed coldly. "But you will never reach your goal. What is it you are intending to do? Get revenge? Or perhaps destroy Light Maginaryworld? And to do that, you must -" the goddess let out an unimpressed snort. "-defeat me. How ingenious." When neither Epona nor Void made a move to contradict her, she laughed, a cruel, bone-chilling sound. "You are fools, both of you! I have more power than either of you can either dream of, and you are both alone!"

"On the contrary, we are not alone at all," Void hissed, his voice a lazy drawl. Incredibly, he turned to face Lumina, who recoiled slightly, horror and disgust emanating from her in almost tangible waves. "Come now, Lumina, you cannot deny your true nature. Stop this childishness and join me."

"I will _never_ join you!" Lumina spat, tensing at Sonic's side, hatred plain upon her face. "You allowed me to die for you, and did not spare a second thought! If I joined you, you would kill me just as quickly as you are intending to do with the idiot by your side!"

Void shrugged, unconcerned, then turned, incredibly, to Sonic. The monster extended one hand slightly, a mocking smile upon his face. "Sonic, don't be a fool; Amy would have wanted me to have her power."

Sonic was shaking with rage, the edges of his vision turned red with bloodlust. "Amy hated – hates – you!" he roared, slipping into a half-crouch, barely keeping himself from lunging forwards. Void laughed, an insane, nails-down-a-chalkboard kind of sound.

"On the contrary, Amy loved me very much," he murmured silkily. "Or have you not heard? We were to be married!"

Sonic's rage exploded out of him in an outraged shout of fury, all restraint gone, and he flung himself forwards, hands curled into claws, rocketing towards Void's laughing form, murder on his face-

But then pain tore through him like a wildfire on the sun, throwing him flat on his back. It was agony that put that of Eggman's machine to shame, turning his every nerve into electric bolts, his blood burning like molten lava. Roars and shouts of pain were wrenched from his lips, and Sonic writhed on the ground, kicking and lashing out at invisible tormentors, while someone laughed maniacally.

"STOP!" came the united screams of Lumina and – was he hallucinating? – Illumina, and then, quite abruptly, the pain stopped, allowing Sonic to collapse limply upon the ground, gulping down air, willing himself to recover as quickly as possible. He forced himself onto his hands and knees, shaking violently, and raised his head, and nearly collapsed back onto the ground. Illumina was standing between him and the place where Void and Epona were standing, her arms and legs outstretched, forming a barrier between him and the pain.

"Why, Illumina!" Void gasped, mocking surprise. "I never knew you cared for the hedgehog!"

"His life means more to me than yours, Void," spat the goddess, contradiction ringing through her voice. "For the time being, anyways."

"Whatever," Void snarled, and Lumina shot towards Sonic, pulling him to his feet, while her gaze was fixed upon Void. Illumina stepped out of their line of vision, coldness emanating away from her in icy waves.

Void paced around the goddess, while Epona followed his progress, and the part of her face Sonic could see was etched with hunger. "I have watched you abuse your power for too long, Illumina, focusing on immortality rather than reinstating Maginaryworld as the superior of reality. Soon you will be dead, Mobius will be gone, and I will be the glorious leader of our rebellion, the ruler of Maginaryworld, the head of the universe!"

"Don't forget about me," purred Epona, floating towards Void, her lower lip drooping in mock sorrow. "I get to be your empress when the new order is established!"

"Ah yes," Void murmured, wrenching his gaze away from Illumina to stare at Epona, caressing her cheek with the back of his hand. "How could I forget...about you?"

He grabbed Epona's hand and spun her away from him like a ballroom dancer, trailing after her, more graceful than Sonic would have thought possible. For a moment, the Dark Maginaires danced, and eventually, Epona lost her balance and fell backwards, but Void caught her one-armed before she could hit the ground. Her face was flushed with colour and happiness, and as Void leaned in slowly, Sonic, Illumina and Lumina were momentarily united in thoughts when they realized that something bad was about to befall Epona.

Void reached one hand upwards, as if to caress her cheek, and then, lightning fast, he lashed out and swept her bangs from out of her eyes. The very walls of the Temple seemed to hold its breath for a split second, during which Epona stared at Void with horrified onyx eyes, and then there was a bomb-like explosion and a crack of onyx light swallowed Epona whole, leaving only her dress behind. It glimmered and swayed like a bit of sparkling sliver water, floating fluidly down to the ground.

"Well, Void," Illumina said, in an almost bored voice that suggested that she had been suspecting as much and wanted to proceed to the next events. "You have destroyed a very fine servant of mine. I have no further use for you. Goodbye."

So quickly Sonic wasn't sure how it had happened, Void and Illumina were locked in a ferocious battle so fast paced that the participants were reduced to slashing limbs and flying robes as each sent beams of multicoloured light rocketing towards their enemy and in turn conjured up bubbles of brightly coloured light to protect themselves. But then out of the fray, a stray beam disentangled itself from the ferociousness and at a speed to rival Sonic's, rammed into Lumina, who let out an agonized scream as she was blasted backwards, tumbling head over heels, her form writhing as she flew, snakes of glittering green energy mauling her, and then she slammed into one of the stone walls with awful finality, so forcefully that the entire Temple shuddered slightly.

"NO!" Sonic roared, blinded by fear and rage; his only ally was incapacitated – possibly dead, but he would not allow himself to think that – and he was now, truly alone. Past caring who had sent the beam at Lumina, he launched himself forwards with a supersonic boom, rocketing towards where his two greatest enemies were battling with such ferocity that the air seemed to be hissing.

But then, suddenly, horrifically, pain had returned, so ferocious that for a moment, he bordered on unconsciousness. He hit the ground like a sack of rocks, his body automatically twisting itself into grotesque, horrible poses of agony, and he was screaming louder than he ever had in his life, his eyes were wide open but unseeing, and he rolled end over end, fists beating the ground, pleading for the pain to stop. It was being burned alive, immersed in acid, ripped apart and shattered into a thousand pieces all at once. It was the pain of losing Amy liquefied and multiplied by a hundred.

_Let it end, _Sonic begged the gods, if there were any. His back was arched so far back that his spine groaned in protest, and then he collapsed once more, writhing like a fish out of water, the very air turned into acid. _Let the pain, end, let death come-_

_NO! _shouted a voice in his head, the only thing tethering him to life, the last of his shattered willpower. _Remember Amy, trapped, almost dead? You can't save her if you let yourself give up!_

Suddenly, the pain ceased, ended as a supernova-class explosion of noise wrenched him away from his own personal hell. Sonic collapsed onto the blissfully cold stone floor, his entire form heaving with each breath, shaking like an earthquake, his bones turned to liquid, his strength utterly gone. Someone was laughing, a woman with a horribly cold voice, but his brain had disengaged, unable to register the voice. All that mattered was that he kept breathing, because if he didn't breathe, he would die, and if he died, Amy would die...

"HEDGEHOG!" bawled Illumina, her voice a warped, demented caw. "GIVE – ME –AMY – ROSE'S – _SOUL!" _

She punctuated each word with an electric shock, like a patient receiving shock treatment. Sonic did not answer her because he knew it would infuriate her, for he knew that if he was condemned to die, he would make Illumina suffer as much as possible before it happened.

"LOVE WILL NOT SAVE HER, SONIC!" screamed Illumina, demented with hate. "LOVE WILL ONLY PROLONG YOUR AGONY, INCREASE THE – _ARGH!"_

Sonic forced himself to look up when Illumina cut herself off with her own scream of pain. The goddess of Maginaryworld, Void and Lumina were all locked in a furious battle, twisting and slashing and shooting beams of light at each other, the brawl punctuated by the clangs of what sounded like swords on shields and the furious screams of the participants, each duelling to kill.

The moment had come, Sonic was certain of it. Void and Illumina were both too absorbed in the battle with Lumina to notice him, and he was certain that, if he hurried, he could be at Amy's side before one of them were knocked out of the battle.

_Thank you, Lumina, _Sonic thought, as he crawled in the opposite direction of the battle, gulping down ragged breaths, grateful for the little Maginaire's distraction. He forced himself forwards, ignoring the pain, ignoring the looming, eternal threat of death, knowing that all that stood between Amy and freedom was the small amount of space that he was rapidly closing between her and her crystal-

Slowly, slowly, his strength returned, and Sonic was crawling faster and faster, shaking less with every passing second. He was mere feet from the base of the crystal when Illumina apparently spotted him and, with a scream of utmost fury, screeched, "SONIC, _NO!"_

Knowing he had less than a second, Sonic flung himself across the remaining distance between himself and Amy, rolling behind it just as a streak of jagged lavender light slammed into Amy's crystal, which it deflected off of, ricocheting off its pristine white surface and passing so close to the Precious Stone that Illumina screamed in terror-

Feeling as though he were teetering on the edge of unconsciousness, Sonic raised his head up so that he was staring at the back of Amy's head, reached one trembling hand up and, suddenly knowing what to do, gasped, "Chaos Control!"

The moment his hand touched Amy's crystal, the space directly over his heart grew hot, increasing from a candle's flame to a full blown inferno in less than a second, and suddenly, an orb of pink light melted out from his chest, rising upwards until it was level with the small of Amy's back, and it shot through the crystal with apparent ease, melting swiftly into her back.

Immediately, the space the orb had vanished turned a burning pink, a glow that quickly spread down Amy's form like a virus, covering her entire torso, claiming her head and spreading down her arms and legs. The moment the tips of her gloved fingers had been claimed, her crystal darkened to magenta, reducing Amy to nothing more to a shadow, and then, with a deafening explosion, the crystal exploded into a thousand pink shards, flying in every direction but his.

Relief threatened to overwhelm him, and Sonic sensed that he was bordering on unconsciousness, but he would not allow himself to rest until he had seen that Amy was alive again with his own eyes. But as he swayed and teetered, he wondered if he was not already unconscious, for what he saw could not possibly have been correct.

"Amy," he gasped out, trying to stop the world from spinning. "You...you're..."

But the last word died in his throat, for the blackness he had been trying to keep at bay overwhelmed him. As he spiralled into unconsciousness, the word trailed after him, and he regretted being unable to speak it.

_Beautiful._


	27. The End, in More Ways Than One

Something very hot punctured the small of her back, prompting Amy to open her eyes. For a moment, she merely stood there, stunned at being able to do such a thing. _Where am I? _she asked herself, completely disoriented, unable to understand why she was inside what she could only describe as a foggy white aquarium, or why, outside that aquarium, Lumina, Void and Illumina were staring at her, apparently transfixed with horror.

Then the onslaught of information her brain had been collecting screamed for recognition, and suddenly, her mind was teeming with thoughts and feelings, things that had happened while she drifted through limbo. Her friends had tried to rescue her, but Illumina had beaten them to it, taking her back to Maginaryworld. Sonic, Knuckles and Lumina had followed her, but then someone apparently named Epona had apprehended them, though not before Lumina sent Knuckles away. Sonic and Lumina were captured and brought before Illumina, Sonic had touched her crystal, and then Illumina had tortured him when he refused to give up her soul.

Abruptly, rage boiled up inside of Amy, an emotion she had been feeling a lot lately, consuming her so completely that she did not even notice that her crystal had turned an opaque pink. When she could stand it no longer, she unleashed her fury with an ear-splitting scream, so loud that her crystal was shattered to a million pieces, sprinting through the air like glass daggers in every direction but Sonic's. With incredible grace, she floated onto the ground, and she was so furious that she did not even notice that Illumina and Void were gaping at her, looking so horrified that she should have suspected that something was either very wrong, or very right, or that Lumina was beaming with joy, joy that was so great that it should not have been caused by her regular appearance.

"YOU!" she screamed, pointing furiously at the place where the goddess of Maginaryworld was standing. "I'VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR BULLSHIT! TAKE _THIS!"_

And with that, she pulled out her hammer and slammed it as hard as she could upon the ground, intending to propel herself forwards, but instead, there was an explosion of noise that would put a bomb to shame, and from out of her hammerhead exploded a mass of dark silver flames, rumbling and roaring with deadly force as they launched forwards in a massive column, crossing the distance between her and her enemies in less than a second, enveloping them whole.

It was at that moment that Amy registered that her hair was a soft, molten silver. With a little gasp, she looked down at her dress, and sure enough, it too had been transformed silver. "What the -?" she murmured, completely bewildered.

"A-Amy!" someone gasped out from behind her, and Amy's breath caught in her throat as she whirled around, her hand flying to her throat. Sonic stood before her, swaying on the spot, looking like he was about to faint. "Amy...you...you're -"

But before he could finish his sentence, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he slumped forwards, his form as limp as a ragdolls. Amy gasped in horror and took a step forwards, catching her friend before he could fall, tears blurring her vision. "Sonic!" she wailed, sinking to the ground, allowing her tears to fall onto her unconscious friend's back.

"He'll be alright," Lumina murmured from behind her, and Amy leapt to her feet, eyes widening in surprise as she whirled around, remembering that she was not alone.

"Are you sure?" she demanded, wiping her eyes on the back of her gloved hand, her heart pounding in her chest, pumping fear through veins. Lumina nodded slowly, her eyes solemn.

"We've got bigger problems right now," the Maginaire murmured, jerking her head in the direction of the column of flames she had unleashed upon Void and Illumina, which was roaring too loudly for her to hear their screams of pain, if they were making any.

"Alright," Amy growled, her eyes reflecting the cackling flames. "Let's do this!"

Suddenly, her column of flame vanished in a burst of blue ice crystals, and Illumina and Void were revealed, both of them coated in ash and blood, momentarily united in their hatred. Amy and Lumina had no more time to speak, for their enemies were already sprinting forwards, both of them demented with rage. The two of them dashed forwards to meet them, snarls etched upon their faces, and the two parties collided, each being duelling to kill.

Amy met Illumina, lashing out in a furious blow with a hammer crackling with silver flames, but Illumina was too quick, skipping backwards out of harm's way and retaliating in a crushing twist kick. Amy sashayed to the side to avoid the blow, the fear that had been threatening to overwhelm her suddenly smothered beneath a burning, furious hatred, and with a growl of concentration she leapt into the air, pulling her hammer over her shoulder, and she slammed it upon Illumina's head as hard as she could, or she would have, had the goddess been there to receive the blow; she twirled on the spot and vanished in a swirl of her robes and flying hair, and Amy pulled her hammer back at the last second, landing heavily in a half-crouch. Suddenly, déjà-vu overwhelmed her, and she remembered Illumina had done the same trick in this very Temple, an eternity ago. Her breath catching in her throat, Amy threw herself to the side, and just in time, for a brown leather boot lashed out in a hard kick in the place she had been occupying a second before.

Snarling in outrage, Amy whirled around and swung her hammer over her shoulder, but Illumina, displaying lightning-fast reflexes, slashed her hand through the air, conjured a massive, question mark-shaped staff constructed of white marble out of thin air, and knocked her hammer out of her hands.

Eyes widening in horror, Amy ducked to avoid a wild swing from the butt of Illumina's staff and extended one hand to where her hammer had clattered to a halt, her fingers forming claws as she willed it to fly into her hand. It did so, and the moment they were reunited, Illumina let out an outraged shriek and brought her hammer down over her head, a move that would have sliced Amy in half if she had not forced her hammer above her head at the last moment. For a moment, the two grappled there, dark green eyes locked onto flaming brown ones, narrowed in utmost concentration, their teeth barred as they summoned all their considerable might into pressing against their opponent's weapon, neither willing to relent-

With a savage laugh, Amy kicked out as hard as she could with one foot, connecting hard with Illumina's shin. The goddess shrieked in outrage as she staggered backwards but did not fall, and Amy leapt to her feet, capitalizing on her enemy's destabilization. "ARGH!" she cried, swinging her hammer forwards with crushing force, and she caught Illumina sharply on the side, but only because the goddess' arms were raised above her head, a halo of purple fire surrounding them. Her eyes narrowed in pain and an anguished gasp was wrenched from her lips, but Illumina did not fall as she screamed, "FIRE BLAST!" bringing her hands down as if to slam a tray down upon a table.

The next thing Amy knew, her world was obscured by a mass of violet flames, sweltering heat, and senseless noise, with Illumina nowhere in sight. A cylinder of flames was all around her, too tall for her to jump over, too thick for her to run through. The walls of her flaming prison were rapidly shrinking, closing in on her from every side, and Amy knew she had only seconds, if that, to act-

With a gasp of horror, she slammed her hammer upon the ground before her, and thankfully, no silver flames erupted out of it this time; she was launched skywards with a speed to rival Sonic's, arms pressed tight at her sides, eyes narrowed to slits against the heat, and she cleared the top of the flames without an inch to spare, the bottom of her dress singed by the flames, which rammed into itself and, upon impact, vanished in a crack of crimson light. Her escape had been too narrow, too fast for Illumina to see her fly out of the top of the column, and so she let out a scream of triumph, and this, more than anything, was the trigger that ignited Amy's fury; with a piercing scream of outrage, Amy unleashed the anger that had been building up inside of her, her limbs snapping away from her torso, and in a move identical to the one she had used on Void in Nature Zone, a deafening thunderclap echoed throughout the Temple of Light, accompanied by a jagged bolt of blinding pink light that shot down from the heavens and struck Illumina with such force that, even if she had possessed both the sun and moon's power, it would have been fatal.

"YES!" Amy screamed, punching the air in triumph as she began her descent back to the ground, not knowing she did not have any cause for celebration.

Lumina, meanwhile, had been locked in combat with Void, and the two of them were so evenly matched that, not only had neither managed to land a scratch on the other, they had time to speak.

"Come now, sister!" Void shouted, deflecting the beam of white light Lumina had sent his way by conjuring a translucent half-bubble of energy before him. "We don't have time to play these childish games. You and I are destined to rule Maginaryworld, not that great buffoon."

"Shut _up!" _Lumina screamed, and the battle became so ferocious that there was no more time for speech; Void sent a steak of green light sprinting towards her, so fast that she did not have time to try to reflect it, and so she transformed it into a fleet of flying arrows that turned upon the Dark Maginaire, rushing through the air so quickly that they left imprints of themselves in the place they departed. Void waved one hand through the air and caused the arrows to explode into a cloud of choking onyx smoke, smoke that twisted and solidified into a massive black serpent who twisted and writhed before hurtling towards Lumina, mouth open impossibly wide, dagger-sharp teeth glittering with venom-

Lumina turned the snake into a glowing golden sword, one that froze in mid-air so that she could leap up and grab it. Twisting it around so that she was holding it over her shoulder, Lumina shot through the air, streaking towards Void, who conjured his own blade, one that was deepest black, and he forced his blade horizontally above his head to parry her attack. Snarling disdainfully, he slashed his blade through the air, and it came within inches of her throat, causing Lumina to gasp in shock and momentarily freeze, something that gave Void time to create a shallow slash in her cheek, an act that caused Lumina to scream in fury, and she twisted around, her right arm forming a slight gap between itself and her side, and she rammed her blade through that shallow space, but Void skipped lightly backwards, easily avoiding her rash attack. Biting back another scream, Lumina whipped around and unleashed a mass of lightning-fast blows upon her brother, whose superior smiles morphed into an ugly snarl as he was forced to duck and parry to avoid imminent death.

"FIGHT BACK, DAMMIT!" Lumina screamed, outraged that he was not actually fighting back, born morely out of her fury at not creating so much as a scratch on her brother than anything else. She lashed out in a wild slash, but Void, clearly having enough, caught her hand and danced around to her blind side, twisting her arm and pulling it to breaking point, police-to-fugitive style, while he held his blade to her throat.

"Why would I?" Void murmured, his voice infuriatingly loving. "We were destined to be together, not to fight. It was the will of the Creator."

Lumina stood there for a moment, allowing Void to believe that she was pondering his words, and then, in a voice dripping with acid, hissed, "Well, we'll just have to offend our Creator, then, won't we?"

And with that, she rammed the hilt of her blade into her brother's chest, causing him to gasp in pain and stagger backwards, his blade mercifully flying away from her throat. A savage snarl her face, Lumina whirled around and grabbed Void's arm, pulling him harshly towards him so that his back was pressed against her front, holding him the same way he had been holding her. She pressed the side of her blade against his throat, having every intention to slit it, but that was when she caught sight of Amy's fight for the first time.

Amy had narrowly escaped death by launching herself skywards with the help of her hammer, barely avoiding being burned to a crisp by violet flames that had been closing in on her from every side, and retaliated against Illumina by unleashing a scream of utmost fury and causing a jagged pink lightning bolt to rocket down from the heavens and ram itself down upon Illumina, who escaped death by the most infinitesimal amount of a second by twirling on the spot and causing herself to vanish.

To Amy, it would have looked as though she had killed Illumina, when the very harsh reality was that the goddess was alive and murderous. "NO!" Lumina screamed, knowing where the goddess would have reappeared. She threw Void from her, dropped her blade with a clatter, and turned into nothingness, reappearing instantly at Sonic's side, her arms thrown wide as she hovered before him, blocking him from Illumina's view. The goddess was frozen, a statue of utmost shock, her arms frozen above her head, a massive, question mark-shaped staff in hand, about to impale Sonic. Her eyes widened in horror as she took in Lumina, whose rage was enough to destroy a planet.

"NO!" she screamed, her hands obscured by orbs of crackling white light. "YOU WILL NOT MURDER YOUR DOWNFALL!"

And with that, she brought her hands together and unleashed the magic that had been boiling inside her with a supernova-class explosion of noise. Bolts of white light exploded out of her palms and rammed squarely into Illumina's face, whose scream of agony trailed behind her as she was blasted backwards, writhing and twisting and shrieking in pain. She passed within inches of her Precious Stone and Lumina swore violently, lamenting the fact that the goddess did not shatter her power source.

Knowing that Illumina would be out of action for at least thirty seconds, she turned her gaze upon Sonic, eyes huge, anxious, but was relieved to see that he was sitting upright, looking surprisingly alert. "Thanks," he said fervently, allowing her to pull him to his feet. Lumina opened her mouth to tell him it was nothing, but then closed it when inspiration struck her like a bolt of lightning. Letting her eyes slide closed, Lumina held her hands up at chest level and willed the objects that she could see clearly in her mind's eye to materialize. Sonic's incredulous gasp told her that her spell had worked.

Her eyes slid open, only to be dazzled by the multicoloured glow of the seven Chaos Emeralds, floating around her head in a perfect circle, humming faintly.

"What the -?" Sonic muttered, his eyes huge, reflecting the jewels' glow.

"Go," Lumina whispered, thrusting her hands forwards and causing the gems to circle around Sonic's head instead. "Get to Amy, do whatever you need to get your power flowing, just make sure it happens."

While all this was happening, Amy had landed upon the stone ground, so jubilant at Illumina's destruction that tears of happiness were pouring down her face. Wiping the moisture from her eyes, Amy conjured up a mental image of Sonic's face when she told him she had beaten Illumina, and turned around so that she could check on Lumina's fight. It was at that moment that the very woman she thought she had defeated was blasted overhead, her form writhing and twisting as she screamed in anguish.

_Doesn't she ever die? _Amy asked herself, freezing on the spot, paralyzed with horror. The moment she chose to freeze, however, a figure appeared before her, a figure with shocking emerald green hair and clothed in strange, flowing sapphire robes, his smile stretching across his entire face.

"Hello, Amy," whispered Void, waving a glowing onyx sword before her eyes, a steely glint in his eyes. "Did you miss me?"

"Gah!" she gasped, hand flying to her throat, disgusted at the appearance of the monster, but it morphed almost instantly to hatred as she remembered that the Maginaire before her had been intending to force marriage upon her. Her mouth curling into an outraged snarl, Amy swung her hammer forwards with all her might, but Void ducked low to avoid it, laughing infuriatingly, as though he dodged death every day. The Maginaire retaliated with a lightning-fast swipe from his sword, and Amy recoiled from the blade, though not fast enough; the streaking onyx flash chopped off a decent amount of her hair, which spiralled distractingly across her field of view. Void capitalized on her distraction by seizing her hand and wrenching her towards him, spinning her so that he caught her one-armed, as one might his ballroom dancer partner. Amy's breath rushed from her lungs in a huff, but she was paralyzed with horror, prisoner to fright as Void's arm formed an iron cage around her torso, making escape impossible. Determination shone in his eyes as Void leaned in, his lips slightly parted, and Amy leaned away from him, craning her head back as far as his grip would allow, screaming in terror, the only thought in her head spiralling around in endless circles-

_Is he serious?_

Apparently he was, for the next thing she knew, Void's lips were upon hers, crushing themselves against hers with disgusting insistence. They had met for only a moment when a bellow of utmost rage shattered their horrific bubble of isolation, and then Sonic had rammed into Void, curled into a tight ball that seemed to crackle with electricity. The Maginaire was sent flying, but before Amy could fall, Sonic had caught her, his face a warped mass of fury as contemplated what he had just seen.

Amy did not think, did not even pause to take a breath; she reached up and seized Sonic's face with both hands, crushing her lips against his, an act born out of utmost passion, and to her delight, Sonic returned her actions, his hands groping her face, and Illumina, Void, Lumina and the Temple of Light, the looming destruction of Mobius, melted into unreality, and then only real thing was Sonic, the feel of his fur against hers, the moment stretched into an eternity of bliss, this, the greatest of reunions-

But then, almost unbearably, she was wrenched away from Sonic by something a million times stronger than she, and her eyes flew open, gasping in confusion at this sudden return to reality. To her bewilderment, she saw that the seven Chaos Emeralds were circling Sonic's form, and her friend's face was glowing with triumph as the coveted gems floated around him in an almost contemplating way-

And then, the Emeralds shot forwards, melting into Sonic's body with an explosion of noise. A ring of blinding white light exploded off of his form, and with a bellow of, "YES!" Sonic transformed from dark blue to molten gold, his form glowing with power, radiating confidence.

He looked up at her, a cocky grin upon his face, and Amy's answering smile was wiped from her face as she saw Void, advancing upon him from behind, his onyx blade in hand and a look of utmost rage upon his face as he drew the dagger back, preparing to stab him from behind-

"SONIC, _GET DOWN!" _Amy screamed, throwing her hammer forwards with all her might. Sonic obediently threw himself onto the ground and Void, freezing in shock, let out a roar of pain as the hammer head slammed into his face with crushing force. The Maginaire staggered backwards, trailing blood, looking furious-

"Let's finish this!" Amy hissed, reaching one hand out to summon her hammer, and Sonic leapt to his feet, nodding in furious determination. Together, they advanced upon Void, Amy swinging her hammer as only an expert could, Sonic a golden blur at her side as he darted around their enemy, a mass of ferocious punches and kicks. But Void was impossible to hit, ducking and dodging and twirling out of harm's way each time it approached; Amy snarled savagely, swinging her hammer at his face, but Void ducked and blocked the kick that Sonic had tried to land in his stomach with his arm, then launched into a series of backflips, the first one catching them both sharply under the chin, and he was ten feet away from them in less than two seconds. Before either of them had time to recover, Void was pulling out of the final flip, and suspended upside down in mid air, he extended one palm towards them and a thick jet of deepest blue ice shot out of it, heading lethally fast towards her, but Sonic shouted, "NO!' and forced her out of harm's way in a diving push, but at the price of saving himself.

Horrified, Amy landed hard on her back, and she watched as Void's icy blast slammed into Sonic with deadly force, but instead of blasting him backwards, it surrounded him in a jagged, glittering tomb, freezing the shocked expression upon face, holding his outstretched arms in place-

Void let out a snarling laugh and vanished on the spot, reappearing beneath the falling crystal that was Sonic, and punched the ice's smooth side, sending it flying skywards, flipping end over end like a rising coin. Void jumped after Sonic, his limbs shrouded blurs as he slashed and kicked at the icy prison, blows that were not harming the ice, Amy realized, but Sonic, the tomb merely there to make sure that he could not retaliate. Void paused, causing all the noise from the furious battling raging between Illumina and Lumina to be extinguished, and both of the Maginaire's clawed hands glowed with darkest purple magic, preparing to deal the final, fatal blow-

"SONIC, _NOOO!" _Amy screamed, and time hurtled to a stop, the air pulsing slightly as she twirled on the spot and vanished in a swirl of her sparkling silver dress, her vision tinted red with outrage and bloodlust, Void a humanoid crimson shadow in her point of view as she reappeared beside him, her face contorted with fury. He appeared to be at a loss for words at her actions, freezing in his assault upon Sonic, but Amy did not care; she had dropped her hammer when she had teleported, but she didn't want it. She wanted the pleasure of defeating the vile creature before her with her own hands, and using her hammer would make that impossible.

Amy seized Void by the throat, channelling all her anger up her arm and through her fingertips, converting it from mere emotion to magic as it travelled up her limb in an electric current. Void's form spasmed and shook as the electricity tore through him, and Amy threw him up into the air, her eyes fixed upon his jerking, twitching form, and she screamed, "YOU'RE DEAD!"

From beneath her came the sound of ice shattering into a thousand pieces, and Sonic roared, "AMY, HERE!" Amy let out a shriek of absolute outrage, and her body became surrounded by translucent silver flames, fuelled by the anger that was coursing through her form like a thousand tidal waves. She pulled one fist back over her shoulder and, channelling all her fury into that hand, let her rage explode out of her in a furious scream while ramming her fist into Void's frozen face.

The Maginaire's roars of pain trailed behind him as he was rammed back towards the ground, where Sonic was hovering, his eyes narrowed to slits, form glowing with molten gold flames. With a bull-like roar, Sonic rocketed upwards like a bullet, fists clenched, head held high, and when he was directly beneath Void's writhing form, he flipped upside down and kicked Void as hard as he could, shoes connecting with his rib cage so forcefully that each bone shattered.

"FINISH HIM OFF, AMY!" Sonic yelled as he fell back down to the ground. Amy who had every intention of doing so, somersaulted through the air so that she was tumbling towards Void, her heart pumping adrenaline through her veins. Her body could hold no more hate, and so it was with utmost pleasure that she released it, flipping out of her somersault and extending one palm towards Void, all of her anger exploding out of her in a beam of concentrated silver energy, containing the combined force of a charging steam engine, stampede of elephants, supersonic jet and a hundred nuclear bombs.

It was a blow that not even Illumina could survive. The beam rammed into Void with devastating force, and the Maginaire did not even have time to shout before he was ripped limb from limb, and vanished in a crack of blood red light.

Amy was beyond words; she screamed and shouted, punching the air in triumph, consumed with joy as she fell back through the air, lost in the triumph that came with defeating the one who had dared test the power of the moon. She tumbled end over end, lost in her own happiness, and then someone soft had caught her against their chest, someone with glowing golden arms that set her gently upon her feet.

"YOU DID IT!" Sonic yelled, pounding her jubilantly upon the back. "AMY, YOU DID IT!"

"YOU MEAN _WE _DID IT!" Amy yelled right back, jumping up and down, her hands clasped inside Sonic's as they danced around. "VOID'S GONE!"

But a gut-wrenching scream of terrible pain shattered their glowing sphere of happiness, wrenching the pair of them back into the awful reality that was the Temple of Light. Sonic set Amy on her feet and looked about for the source unknown person's scream, then they both gasped in horrified unison and shouted defiantly, "LUMINA, _NO!"_

Lumina's body was soaring through the air over their heads, crackling with vicious, electric blue sparks, and a hundred feet away, Illumina was shrieking with glee, her form outlined with the same plasmatic blue magic.

Sonic had gone from her side and reappeared before Amy's heart had beaten twice, his arms cradling Lumina's limp form. The two of them sank to their knees, each of them gripping one of Lumina's limp pink hands with both their own, gold and silver eyes sparkling with tears as they gazed at their friends with tortured expressions upon the faces.

"Lumina?" Sonic whispered weakly, squeezing her right hand. "Lumina, Lumina, please, say something!"

Lumina's huge crystalline blue eyes opened only half way, and her lips trembled violently as she murmured, "P-please...please...you m-must stop...Illumina." And then her head fell back against Sonic's chest, her eyes blank, tiny body perfectly still.

"No!" Amy whispered furiously, blinking her tears away. "She's not dead! Heal! _Heal!"_

Bright silver sparks shot from her fingertips, crawling up along the Maginaire's limp arm, twirling towards Lumina's dully glowing amulet, enveloping it in a silver cocoon. These were soon joined by golden sparks, playing across her body from Sonic's shaking hands, both of them whispering, "Please, Lumina, heal!"

"HAHAHAHAHA!" cackled Illumina from across the Temple, and Amy could imagine the horrible triumph that was etched upon the goddess' face. "Flowlight is dead, you stupid hedgehogs! No magic can reanimate the dead! Save your powers, try to avenge her!"

_Of course you can bring back the dead, _Amy thought, her tears pouring down her face, adding to the sparks crackling around Lumina's amulet. _I'm living proof._

"What are you doing, hedgehogs?" Illumina called, and her triumph was slightly marred by uncertainty that laced the edges of her voice, guessing what they were attempting to do, fearful that their desperate plan might actually work.

And then, quite suddenly, Lumina's eyes flashed open, alert but wondering, and her amulet sucked down the silver and gold sparks like an elephant does water. "Sonic?" she whispered, sounding amazed. "Amy? But _h-how?"_

Amy did not answer, and nor did Sonic, for Illumina had appeared above them, shaking with fury, her eyes huge, face drawn, whiter than bone. "What have you done?" whispered the goddess, her form glowing with crimson energy. "You have sealed your fates, hedgehogs!"

"You can't bring back the dead, my ass!" Sonic hissed scornfully, and Illumina recoiled slightly, her features warped and twisted, demented with hate. "But we're going to avenge Lumina anyway."

And the three of them flung themselves at Illumina, who let out a wordless shriek and lunged forwards to meet them. Sonic got there first, feinting left and right before curling into a tight ball and shooting towards Illumina's outraged face, but she ducked down and allowed him to soar harmlessly overhead, while she in turn lunged forwards, hands curled into claws and extended towards Amy, murder on her face-

_I don't think so,_ Amy thought, and she swung her hammer up in an upwards slash. Illumina curled into a ball and rolled sideways through the air to avoid the blow, pulling out of this and split-kicking both Sonic and Lumina in the face, for they had both flung themselves at her from either side, and as her feet connected with them, they were sent flying backwards, both trailing blood, Lumina screaming in pain, Sonic holding himself as rigid as possible.

"You _bitch!" _Amy shouted, and with that, she sprinted forwards, drawing her hammer back over her shoulder preparing to strike, but the goddess produced her question mark-shaped staff from nowhere and held it vertically to block her attack. They exchanged quick, fierce blows, dancing back and forth like fencers, both narrowly avoiding death several times.

As Amy followed through from a blow that had just missed Illumina's rib cage, her foe spun her marble staff above her head and slammed it down upon the ground an inch from Amy's right side. With a snarl, Amy dropped her hammer and jumped into the air, catching the staff's middle with both hands and spinning around it, kicking Illumina hard in the side of the face and then letting go so that she somersaulted through the air for several seconds before landing in a half-crouch facing away from Illumina.

She turned around quickly and saw that both Maginaires were fighting now, their hands blurred as they flashed in all directions, shooting jets of fire and ice, of light and water and beams of every colour at their enemy's body, neither landing a scratch on the other.

Suddenly, Sonic was beside her, dragging her heavy wooden hammer behind him. "Take this and grab my hand!" he hissed, golden eyes urgent. Amy did as she was told, and then she was spinning around and around through the air, her world a mass of grey and streaks of flashing colour-

Sonic released her, and Amy streamlined her body as she rocketed forwards, not towards Illumina, she realized, but the Precious Stone. Abruptly, the significance of her hammer overwhelmed her, for she remembered with a painful twang that, an eternity ago, Cosmo had made the same journey towards the stone, one that had ended in her death.

With a grunt that sounded like, "Htcha!" Amy swung her hammer forwards as hard as she could, and it connected with the blindingly bright white surface with an almost musical smash. Terrible vibrations ran down Amy's arm, rattling her more violently than a bead caught in a tornado, and pain tore through her, pain a thousand times worse than the agony that had come with turning her back on Sonic and running into the golden mist. She wanted nothing more than to yank her arms away from the Stone, and yet they seemed to be stuck.

An eternity away, Illumina was screaming, a scream that was so high pitched that it sent a few extra cracks running down the Precious Stone's surface, but Amy did not hear it, for the Precious Stone itself had uttered a scream, a demonic, warped caw of a voice that sent terror running through her in addition to unendurable agony.

"_NO!" _came a horrible shriek of a voice from the Stone's depths, a voice that belonged to someone a thousand years old, the warped caw of an ancient witch. _"YOU WILL NOT DESTROY ME, LITTLE GIRL! NOT AGAIN!"_

The pain running through Amy's form increased by tenfold, and she let out an ear-splitting scream of terrible anguish, thrown violently left and right, ramming off walls of pain, her hands glued to her hammer's handle all the while. It was agony such that she had never endured, agony that no one should have to endure. Her face was screwed up against both the blinding light that was still emanating out of the Precious Stone and the pain that was tearing her apart. In an impossible, disembodied sort of way, she heard Sonic and Lumina shouting in panic, both of them paralyzed with fear, neither thinking to rise into the air and wrench her away from the thing that would kill her-

The Precious Stone let out a malevolent cackle of a laugh, ringing mockingly throughout her mind, increasing the torture. _"YOU ARE WEAK!" _it screamed at her. _"AT LEAST THE ONE BEFORE YOU HAD RESOLVE! BUT YOU, NO, YOU ARE ALMOST BEGGING FOR DEATH, AMY ROSE! YOU ARE PATHETIC!"_

Amy was past caring what she was; all she knew, all she had ever known, was this senseless pain, she was not brave or strong like Sonic or Cosmo, she could not take this, and the only sane thought in her head was just as horrible as the torture she was prisoner to.

_After all this, I'm going to die. No matter how hard my friends have been fighting for me, my fate as the sacrifice has always been sealed._

She couldn't take it anymore; her vision tunnelled, the blinding light from the Precious Stone was smothered, and at the end of the blackness was a small circle of white light, light that promised a release from the pain, escape from this chaos.

Light that promised Mobius.

Amy felt herself hurtling towards it, away from the pain, the sounds of both the Precious Stone and her screams already fading into unreality. In her mind, she was already in Mobius, and all that separated her body from it was a few meters-

No, she was still in the Temple of Light, still screaming in pain-

She was dead, another light that had been extinguished by the crushing black hand that was Illumina, another nameless, faceless victim-

No, she was Amy Rose, the wielder of the moon's power, and if she allowed herself to die now, Illumina would never meet her end.

_It doesn't matter anymore, nothing is worth this pain._

_ARE YOU INSANE? _Screamed a voice in her head, and she was convinced that it was mere physical representation of the madness she had been reduced to. _EVERYTHING, _EVERYTHING, _IS WORTH THIS! REMEMBER KNUCKLES AND THE OTHERS, THEY CAN'T BE SAVED IF ILLUMINA DOESN'T DIE! REMEMBER SONIC!_

And with a Herculean effort, Amy turned her back on the light that promised certain death and hurtled back, as insane as it sounded, into the arms of pain, which embraced her as fiercely as possible, determined to send her screaming back into blackness. But she possessed one thing she didn't have before; resolve. Clamping her mouth shut, Amy forced her eyes open, and saw that lightning bolts of neon blue light were lashing out from the Precious Stone, cracks of the same colour running along its surface like thousands of spider webs.

"_WHAT IS THIS?" _screeched the awful voice of the Precious Stone, and suddenly, horrifically, a single, slanting, blood red eye opened up in the biggest crack in its surface, wide with horror at how she had cheated death yet again.

"You know what?" Amy asked through gritted teeth, using all of her strength to stop her body from spasming. "This whole thing is ridiculous. I'm not about to be killed by some _STUPID – OVERGROWN – DIAMOND!"_

And with a scream that released all of the fury that had been boiling up inside of her, flames of brightest silver shot down her hammer head and assaulted the Precious Stone, roaring like the most vicious of dragons. The Stone gave an almighty shudder, its single red eye widening even further, so that in less than two seconds, the entire surface was covered in an opaque crimson, and then it exploded, a long, piercing scream of drawn out agony echoing in its wake, so forceful that Amy was blasted back towards the ground, millions of jewel bright shards whizzing sinisterly through the air, leaving hundreds of shallow cuts in every bit of exposed skin, but she did not care; she had taken out Illumina's power source, the only thing the goddess had going for her, and she, Sonic and Lumina were all magically powerful beings, three strong, while Illumina had been reduced to a mere shell of her former formidability, her most outstanding quality was her ability to hate more maliciously and completely than any being ever had in all eternity.

"AMY!" Sonic roared, and suddenly she was in his arms once more, golden sparks flying from his fingertips and burying themselves into her fur, banishing the pain and weariness that was still assaulting her. "YOU DID IT!"

As they landed on the cold stone floor, Sonic tilted her face up towards his, his eyes bright with excitement, and leaned forwards, so close that she could feel the heat emanating out from his face, feel the power flowing from him-

"I'M SO SORRY TO INTERRUPT!" screamed Lumina, having to raise her voice to near deafening to be heard over the continuous, outraged screams that Illumina was unleashing, her head thrown back in fury, mouth open impossibly wide, while plasmatic blue energy shot out of her form, the last vestiges of her power. "BUT MOBIUS HAS MERE MINUTES LEFT UNTIL IT IS DESTROYED -"

"_WHAT?" _shrieked Amy, wrenching herself out of Sonic's arms and staggering towards the Light Maginaire, her eyes huge with incredulity. "WHY DIDN'T ANYONE MENTION THIS BEFORE?"

"Oh, I don't know," Sonic said sarcastically. "Maybe because we've been too busy trying not to die?"

"STOP IT!" Lumina shouted, anguished tears pouring down her face. "WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR JOKES! WE NEED TO KILL ILLUMINA, _NOW. _ATTACK HER WITH THE MOST POWERFUL THING YOU'VE GOT WHEN WE'RE ALL IN POSITION! SONIC, YOU GET BEHIND HER! AMY, YOU STAY HERE!"

"Yes sir, ma'am," Sonic muttered, unable to keep a straight face, and then next thing Amy knew, he was gone, seeming to teleport to the other side of the Temple of Light. Lumina rocketed towards where Illumina was still screaming, shrieking curses at them in a language she could not understand, and the little fairy sent a vast expanse of thick black ropes flying at her, binding the goddess' arms to her side. Lumina wasted no time in dragging Illumina towards the stone altar, kicking the goddess' ornate golden throne out of the way and slamming her forcibly upon the place it had stood before rising up towards the space where the Precious Stone had previously occupied.

Amy glared at the goddess, and the almost familiar feeling of hate boiled up inside her once more as she counted off her crimes in her head; how she had murdered thousands of plants and animals out of cold blood, how she had wiped the Seedrian clan onto the verge of extinction, how she had brought about the deaths of Tails, Cosmo, Cream, Cheese, Rouge, Knuckles, Lumina and herself for her own amusement, how she had tortured Sonic, how she had intended to force her to marry Void-

The last crime sent her plummeting over the edge, rocketing into insanity, reeling at the thought of being taken away from Sonic. "NEVER-" she screamed, pointing furiously at Illumina's bound form. "TRY TO MAKE ME MARRY ONE OF YOUR GOONS AGAIN!"

On reflection, it probably wasn't the craftiest of parting words, but at that point in her life, Amy was past caring. Fuelled by her hatred for the woman before her, her whole form shuddered with rage as she wrapped her arms around her chest, struggling to contain the madness that was screaming to be free, sinking slowly to her knees, blood pounding in her ears-

And when she could take it no longer, Amy flung her arms away from herself, reminiscent of the motion Void had done back in Nature Zone, the absolute last of her anger flying out of her in all directions, and she lost her silverness to a massive expanse of roaring silver flames, the heat so forceful that edges of her fur were singed, assuming the form of a massive flying phoenix, so huge that it rivalled Fire Bird, a musical, outraged caw sounding from its beak. Within two beats of its wings, it was upon Illumina, who silenced herself when she sensed that her death was nigh, and with a deafening screech, the bird closed its beak upon the goddess, sending silver lightning bolts down to maul her form, and Illumina was thrown back and forth, her screams drowned out by the continuous roar of the flames of her phoenix, ricocheting off walls of pain, rigid as a board, twisting herself into grotesque displays of anguish-

While Amy had been transforming into a virtual volcano of rage, Sonic had been standing behind Illumina, his teeth barred, eyes narrowed to concentrated slits, shaking with the effort of channelling all his rage into his hands, which he had clasped beneath his chin, index fingers pressed together, hands forming a fake gun. Painstakingly slowly, he was losing his goldenness to them, but when your world was on the brink of destruction, only instantly was fast enough (and even then you were pushing it).

"C'mon, c'mon," he growled, casting his eyes around the room for something to help distract him from the process. They settled almost instantly upon Amy, who was dancing and twirling across the floor of the Temple of Light, while her silver glow became so pronounced that an orb of light had appeared around her, a visible aura. Clearly, she did not need to waste her time pointing pretend guns at dangerous madwomen.

_But I saved her, _he thought, and happiness threatened to overwhelm him at the very thought of it. _We saved each other._

Immediately, the last of his golden glow was lost to his hands, which were now entirely obscured by a burning, molten gold orb of light. _Thank you, Amy, _he thought, and with an effort that felt like it would kill him, he struggled to remove his hands from beneath his chin and pointed them at Illumina, who was obscured entirely by a gargantuan phoenix constructed solely of brightest silver flames, jagged lightning bolts of the same colour assaulting the place where the goddess was undoubtedly shrieking in agony.

All the air seemed to have been sucked from the room as, for a fraction of a second, Sonic glared at the place where his bitter enemy was writhing in pain, and then, with a wordless bellow, the golden orb that had surrounded his hands rocketed away from them, morphing into a massive three-headed dragon constructed solely of blinding gold, thick tongues of molten gold flame rocketing out of its mouths, roaring so loudly that a supernova would have been given a run for its money. It bounded across the distance between him and Illumina in a single stride, pouncing upon the goddess and joining Amy's silver phoenix in its assault upon their hated enemy.

While Sonic and Amy had been preparing to attack Illumina, Lumina had risen hundreds of feet up into the air, her form outlined by the glow of purest white magic, her eyes changing from crystalline blue to brightest gold, twin orbs of power. She clasped her hands underneath her chin and, in a voice ringing with absolute power, yelled, "I CALL UPON THE POWERS OF LOVE AND LIGHT THAT SHINE FAR UPON THIS LAND, FAR GREATER THAN THE EVIL THAT SEEKS TO DESTROY ALL THAT WE HAVE BUILT THESE PAST MILLENIA! I ASK THIS ONE LAST FAVOUR OF YOU, GRANT ME THE POWER TO DESTROY THIS MURDERER FOR THE SECOND AND FINAL TIME! LIGHT SPIRITS, PLEASE, _LEND ME YOUR POWER!"_

With that final plea, she raised her clasped hands above her head and clenched her eyes shut, praying that her call would be answered. But even from beneath her closed lids, she knew her doubts were in vain; blinding cyan blue light shone from the outside world, undoubtedly from the circle that had appeared beneath her, the twelve signs that represented Light Maginaryworld inscribed inside it. She let her eyes slide open just in time to see twelve strands of the same cyan blue light rocket down from the heavens far above with deafening thunderclaps of sound. They slammed themselves down onto their respective symbols, effectively ending their graceful, twisting dance, and immediately began to thicken, an act that obscured the golden three headed dragon and titanic silver phoenix that Amy and Sonic had unleashed upon Illumina from view. In less than five seconds, her entire world was naught but electric blue light, protected from the undoubtedly chaotic noise by the magical beam that was surrounding her, though it was not soundproof enough to block out the anguished screams that Illumina was making, long, drawn out, piercing, unignorable.

_Good, _Lumina thought savagely. _She's paying for her crimes, if only a small amount of them._

She could only pray that it would be enough to destroy the goddess.

But as the Maginaire predicted, the noise outside the beam of light was deafening, so loud, in fact, that Amy's eardrums had popped. Her face was screwed up against the blinding light from their combined attacks, shielding her face in the crook of her arm, her now light pink hair flying about her face, ragged dress billowing out around her. Somehow, over the ear-splitting noise, she heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and removed her arm from her face just in time to see Sonic, dark blue once more, hurtle to a stop beside her. Speech, even from this close, would have been impossible, so she was forced to lip read as Sonic shouted, "You okay?"

"Yes!" she mouthed back, squinting against the blinding brightness in an effort to see his face. "But what happened to Lumina?"

Sonic immediately looked round, his light green eyes probing the Temple for the bright pink form of their Maginaire friend, widening in panic when he could not locate her. Amy's heart began to pound loudly in her ears as Sonic looked back at her, panic etched upon his face, but the terror was instantly whisked from their minds when the blinding cyan light from Lumina's attack, Amy's silver phoenix and Sonic's massive gold dragon began to shrink, condensing into the tiniest orb of white light, an act that sucked all the sound from the room, revealing neither Lumina nor the goddess they sought to destroy.

There was a beat of absolute silence, during which the air seemed to pulse, and the tension of the moment berated Amy's injured ears.

_Oh gods, _she thought, her eyes widening in horror. _What have we done?_

And that was when the orb exploded, filling their entire world in less than a second, punctuated by a deafening, demonic scream of unimaginable pain, shards of deepest purple light punctuating the whiteness, bursting with the force of a thousand supernovas put together, so powerful that Amy's scream of terror went unheard as she was blasted off her feet, tumbling end over end, expecting to slam into the wall of the Temple of Light at any moment. But the crushing impact did not come, and her limbs flew out to breaking point, arms threatening to pop right out their sockets, cheeks rippled by G force. After what felt like days, she landed on the ground, bouncing a full five feet in the air before skidding across it to a halt, whole body burning. Moaning in pain, Amy lay upon the floor, perfectly still, her head ringing, every bone, every muscle in her body screaming for release from pain, little stars dancing before her eyes-

"Amy!"

The voice was warped, twisted, melted into slow motion, and sounded as though it was coming from a thousand light years away. Her berated brain ached with the effort of trying to place the identity of the speaker, for it had been burned into her memory like a flaming brand, something she would remember forever-

"Amy! Speak to me!"

It was Sonic, his voice choked with panic, and the next thing Amy knew, she was on her feet, her head spinning like a top, vision swaying and furling, a blinding headache assaulting her senses.

"_Ooh!" _she moaned, pressing the heel of her hand against her temple, eyes swimming with tears as she struggled to focus on Sonic's features. "That hurt!"

"Tell me about it," Sonic muttered, and then he had her in a tight hug, crushing himself to her, apparently too relieved to speak. A lot of unsaid things passed between them in that hug, and when he released her, Amy's cheeks were flushed with embarrassment, averting her eyes from his, unsure what to say. The silence that followed, however, was broken by Sonic's horrified gasp of, "Lumina!"and Amy immediately spun around, one hand flying to her throat, eyes huge with fear as they settled upon the fairy's shuddering form, splayed upon the ground some twenty feet away.

Sonic made to sprint towards her, but Lumina threw one hand out towards him, her back arching to breaking point with each inhalation, then collapsing limply upon the ground when she exhaled. Amy staggered towards the Maginaire, tears pouring silently down her face, horrified that she was seeing her friend so weak yet again, but Lumina was already rising into the air, the exhaustion draining from her face as she floated upright, her eyes still closed.

"I'm alright," she whispered, allowing her eyes to slide open and fixing them solemnly upon Amy and Sonic. "Thank you, thank you so much-"

"I should say the same thing!" boomed a thunderous voice, and Amy screamed in alarm, while Sonic swore violently, stepping automatically in front of Amy, the two of them expecting the rebirth of Illumina, the return of Void-

A gargantuan face appeared before them, a face of an old man so wrinkled and creased that he was not immediately distinguishable from a rock. He was constructed of purest blue light, his eyes solid cyan, and he had a thick, trailing beard that coiled and furled like a length of flame. The edges of his face writhed and twisted like smoke, but despite looking so insubstantial, the face radiated power out of every pore, a thousand times more pronounced than the waves that had emanated from Illumina.

As far as Sonic or Amy were concerned, this man was just another enemy to be dealt with, and the latter reached for her hammer, her eyes darting around the ancient face, searching for a weak spot, while Sonic tensed like a lion about to pounce, feral snarls ripping themselves from his lips, but Lumina gave a gasp of utmost shock, then immediately sank into a low bow, murmuring something they could not understand.

The man gave a booming laugh that echoed throughout the blank whiteness that was their world, his face scrunching up even further. "You do not bow to me, young Lumina!" he thundered, his voice surprisingly jovial. Sonic and Amy froze, confusion etched upon their faces, and they exchanged fleeting looks before turning their wide eyed gazes back upon the apparition's face.

"Fear not, brave Mobians!" boomed the man, smiling in what he clearly thought to be a reassuring way. "I have no wish to harm you! The very opposite, in fact! Allow me to introduce myself; I am the Creator, the heart and soul of Maginaryworld!"

These words did not exactly puncture the tense balloons that had inflated around the two of them, and the man called the creator shook his massive head, still smiling hugely. "I can understand your suspicion, but believe me, I have done nothing to earn them. In all my millennia of existence, I have never seen braver Mobians than the pair of you. Thanks to you, the witch Illumina is gone, and Maginaryworld is free once more. I cannot describe my gratitude, or the depth of my debt to the pair of you."

Amy blushed furiously. _I don't think I'm one of the bravest Mobians ever, but Sonic sure is. Still, coming from a god..._

The Creator turned next to Lumina, who was trembling slightly, staring up at the apparition with a look of fervent admiration upon her face. "Lumina Flowlight, your compassion for both Mobians and Maginaires has set an example for every being in the universe. Your risks were great, your sacrifices were greater, and it is because of them that you have earned the title of goddess."

Lumina gave a little shuddering gasp, and then sank to her knees, her shoulders heaving with silent sobs. Amy and Sonic smiled slightly as they stared at their friend, the warmth of the moment banishing their pain and weariness. The Creator turned back to the pair of them, his head bowed respectfully. "Sonic the Hedgehog, Amy Rose, Maginaryworld is forever in your debt. I believe that is twice that you have saved it. You are welcome to remain here, if you wish."

Amy looked immediately up at Sonic, her eyes huge. Her friend returned her gaze, and for a moment, they were perfectly united in their thoughts. _I don't think so._

"That's...um...pretty generous," Sonic called up at the great face, and Amy could sense that he thought the whole situation was ridiculous. "But we've gotta get back to Mobius. We left without..."

"Saying goodbye," Amy finished firmly, wiping tears from her eyes on the back of her hand; she could not bear the thought of never seeing Tails or Cosmo or the others ever again.

The Creator bowed his shaggy head, the picture of remorse. "I see. Still, the invitation will always stand. Feel free to return whenever you want. Your friends will be welcome as well." He raised his massive head, face splitting into a smile of utmost gratitude. "Farewell, Sonic and Amy."

With that, the Creator faded from view, electric blue flames curling and twisting in on themselves, chasing each other into non-existence. The three of them stood there for a moment, lost in their own happiness, revelling in the absence of the looming threat that was Illumina, jubilant at the goddess' defeat. Very slowly, Lumina rose up from the ground, her lips pressed tightly together, eyes sparkling with tears as she turned to face them. The sight of their friend so overcome with happiness sparked an idea in Amy's brain, and she knew immediately that she had never had a better one.

"Lumina," she murmured, clasping the little fairy's hands in her own. "Take this."

She let her eyes slide closed, concentrating with all her might on letting the moon's power flow throughout her body. _I don't need it anymore, _she told herself, smiling very slightly. _Mobius has been saved, Illumina's dead, and quite frankly, I've had enough magic to last a life time._

Suddenly, the space directly over her heart grew very heart, like a miniature sun was floating inside her chest, and Amy, unable to take the heat, willed it out of her, hoping that her plan was about to work, that it was not about to malfunction and would end up accidentally destroy the world. But Lumina's wondrous gasp was answer enough, telling her that her vision had come to fruition. She let her eyes slide open, and saw that an orb of purest silver light was hovering before her, pulsing in exact time to the beat of her heart.

Lumina's eyes were huge, glassy, reflecting the ball of light, her lips trembling violently. Beside her, Sonic closed his eyes, holding his hands at chest level, and an orb of molten gold appeared above them, looking for all the world like a tiny sun.

"Take it," Amy breathed, staring intently at Lumina. "If anyone's proven they love Sonic as much as I do, it's you."

When Lumina did not object, their orbs of light drifted forwards, circling around the Maginaire's head in a slow, almost contemplating way, and then they shot into her amulet with blinding speed, acts that sent currents of gold and silver light running across her chest, down her arms, films of magic passing over her eyes. Immediately, Lumina burst into tears, flinging her arms around their necks, overcome with emotion.

"Thank you," she blubbered, her tears cascading down her cheeks and wetting their fur. "You truly are the bravest Mobians ever."

Amy laughed, rolling her eyes. "I'm not so sure about that." she winked, disentangling herself from the Maginaire. "But thank you anyway."

Lumina made no attempt to stem the flow of her tears as she drifted backwards, silvery wings trailing thousands of sparks. "It's the truth," she murmured, allowing her eyes to slide closed. "And I feel sure we'll meet again someday. But for now..."

"Until the next crisis," Sonic laughed, winking at Lumina. "See ya around, Lumina."

"Later," Amy smiled, linking arms with Sonic. Lumina did not answer, a mysterious smile playing about her lips as she extended her hands, palm-out, glowing with pink energy. Suddenly, there was a noise like a laser beam being fired, and two streaks of pink light were rocketing towards them, twisting and spiralling in a captivating dance-

They slammed into their chests with crushing force, so powerful that they were blasted backwards, the air knocked from Amy's lungs in a surprised huff. She was falling through blackness, blackness so complete that there was more visibility if she closed her eyes. Terror eclipsed her brain, and Amy let out a shrill scream, her hands clawing at the air, searching desperately for something, _anything, _to grab onto, feeling like she was about to suffocate-

She landed on something harsh and unforgiving, pain running across her back in jagged bolts, little stars erupting before her eyes. "Ugh!" she moaned, forcing herself upright, her head spinning once more.

"Amy?" came a sharp hiss from not far away, a very familiar hiss, strangely accented. "Is that you?"

"Cosmo!" Amy gasped, crawling forwards, groping blindly in the blackness in search of her friend. "Where are – _OW!"_

For she had just bashed heads with something very hard, and the pain in her head increased by tenfold. Moaning in anguish, she cradled her head in her arms, while Cosmo whispered, "What, what happened?"

"Cosmo?" whimpered Cream, her high-pitched voice sounding terrified. "Is that you?"

"Cream?" whispered Cosmo, sounding stunned.

"Cream?" Amy gasped, rubbing the top of her head gingerly.

"Amy?"

"WOAH!" came a surprised shout, and Amy heard someone land hard on the ground several feet to her right.

"Who's that?" she hissed, crawling in the direction of the newcomer.

"_Amy?" _Tails asked incredulously from up ahead.

"Tails!" she cried, jubilant at the sound of the fox's voice, and she flung herself across the remaining distance between them, enveloping him in a bone crushing hug.

"Tails?" Cosmo murmured, her voice choked with happiness.

"COSMO!" Tails shouted, sounding stunned.

"Tails?" Knuckles asked incredulously from somewhere behind them, and Amy whipped around so fast that she accidentally banged her head against the echidna's.

"Dammit, who was that?" he hissed angrily, catching Amy's arm with his hand.

"Knuckles!" Amy squealed, too happy to notice the pain her friend was inducing.

"_Amy?" _he gasped, immediately releasing her arm. "I – you -"

"Knuckles!" cried Cream, clapping her hands in delight.

"Cream?" Tails hissed, sounding overwhelmed.

"ARGH!" Cosmo's shout was muffled somewhat by the sound of someone very heavy landing on top of her.

"That was softer than I expected," came Rouge's musing growl.

"Rouge?" Knuckles demanded, scrambling upright so fast that he sent Amy flying backwards.

"Knucky?" Rouge purred, sounding intrigued.

"Get – _off!" _moaned Cosmo, and Amy laughed softly.

"Oops, sorry about that," Rouge muttered, apparently rolling off of Cosmo.

"Rouge?" Cream squealed from somewhere on her left.

"Squirt?" hissed the bat, sounding overwhelmed.

"Cream is here?" Knuckles demanded, as if such a thing was impossible.

"Wait, is that Knuckles?" Tails gasped, and by the sounds of it he crashed into Rouge.

"WOAH!" Sonic shouted, landing on top of Amy, who moaned in pain as she was flattened against what felt like a cold stone floor.

"S-Sonic!" she gasped out, trying to squirm out from beneath him.

"Oh shit, sorry Amy," he muttered, leaping off of her and groping through the blackness for her hand.

"Amy's here?" Rouge hissed.

"Rouge?" Sonic said, overwhelmed.

"Sonic!" Tails yelled, hoarse with relief.

"Tails!" Sonic yelled right back, dashing past Amy in search of his best friend.

"Sonic!" Cosmo cried from somewhere up ahead.

"Cosmo?" Rouge whispered, sounding unable to take any more surprises.

"Chao!" squealed Cheese, articulate as always.

"Cheese?" Amy whispered, surprised.

"Didn't you all know you where here?" Sonic demanded, incredulous.

"No," answered Cosmo, Tails, Rouge and Cream.

"Well then, where were you?" asked Amy and Knuckles.

"No idea," shrugged Rouge and Cosmo.

"Where were you?" piped up Tails and Cream.

"Maginaryworld," answered Amy, Sonic and Knuckles. Amy grinned.

"Well, the only question now is –" began Sonic, but the others finished for him.

"Where we are."

And as if on cue, the smothering blackness around them lifted like a fog, revealing the ruins of Mobius City, which was in the process of reforming. The crumbling masses of concrete and steel that were skyscrapers were rising up, metal frames being pulled out from the rubble and reassembled like Lego bricks, while brick, concrete and steel rose up, filling in the gaps. There was an almost musical tinkling as clouds of jagged glass shards whizzed through the air, more lethal than daggers, sprinting towards the places where window panes stood waiting, reforming their glass squares like jigsaw puzzles. The gorges and craters that had been formed in the concrete streets were sealing themselves, currents of neon green light sealing the cracks, reinflating portions of sunken ground. Lampposts stuck themselves back together and planted themselves in their waiting holes, while telephone wires strung themselves back into their poles as if drawn by an invisible needle. Dents in cars were punched out as they did spectacular cartwheels in mid-air, reclaiming doors and windshields, tires reinflating as they went, flipping upright and landing gracefully in the spots their owners had parked them. Newspapers folded themselves into neat stacks upon newsstands, flyers tacked themselves back onto telephone posts, streams of envelopes shot through the air like a maelstrom of bullets, flying back into mailboxes. Hot dog stands were pitched up like tents, garbage flew back into their bins, and all around them, animals were reappearing, looking just as stunned as Amy felt, frozen in mid-scream, others in the positions they had been in before being sucked up into Illumina's magical storm.

It was incredible, that it could be the middle of a weekday afternoon, in the heart of a metropolis, and to have silence as absolute as the one that had swallowed them. And then, almost in slow motion, every head turned, focusing on where their group was standing, in the relative middle of the city, and then applause rent the silence apart, shouts and screams and stamping feet, hats being tossed up into the air, women were sobbing, babies shrieked in displeasure at the sudden racket, children clapped in delight, every eye focused upon one of the eight people standing in the heart of the city, the cause for their return to life, the saviours of their city-

"I could get used to this," muttered Rouge, and everyone burst into laughter.

Seven hours later found Amy sitting alone on Tails' doorstep, gazing unseeingly up at the night time sky, lost in the memories of all that had happened. They had been pounded on the back and shaken hands with every Mobian in the city for what seemed like a dozen times each, and then, after hours and hours of celebration, their exhausted group had fought their way through the jubilant crowds and made it back to Tails' workshop. There, she and Sonic had recounted every event of their last encounter with Illumina in as much detail as they could, lamenting that the spectacle itself seemed rather lame when they could not see it for themselves. Tails, Cosmo, Cream and Cheese were a good audience, gasping in all the right places, Cream actually bursting into tears when Sonic recounted how Illumina had tortured him to the extreme when he had not relinquished Amy's soul. Even Knuckles and Rouge could not hide their awe when they told of how Amy had teetered on the brink of death to destroy the Precious Stone, and everyone gasped in awe when they described how they had destroyed Illumina. Everyone agreed that Lumina was a perfect replacement for Illumina as the goddess of Maginaryworld, but none were eager to take the Creator up on his offer and visit the dream world. Not long after, Rouge departed, claiming that she could not take another minute of 'the squirt's constant squealing'. Knuckles followed almost immediately, muttering some half-formed explanation of wanting to check on the Master Emerald that not one of their group believed, but mocked accepting the excuse with hearty sniggers. Sonic was out taking Cream and Cheese back to Vanilla's, and Tails and Cosmo were inside the workshop. Amy was certain that the latter would stay with Tails from now on, which was, in truth, the one and only place where she belonged.

_I'm the only outsider, _Amy thought, coming back to herself slightly as the thought struck her. _I don't have a job to do. Why am I still here?_

If she was honest with herself, she knew she was here because this was most likely to be the place that Sonic returned to after he dropped off Cream and Cheese. But it had been three hours since he had left, and the time it took for him to get to Vanilla's and back was half that. _Face it, _she told herself glumly. _If he was coming back, he'd be here by now. Maybe he's had enough of you right now._

Unable to sit here with only bitter thoughts for company, Amy leapt to her feet, intending to go home, but Cosmo's soft voice stopped her.

"I didn't mean to scare you," the Seedrian murmured, and Amy whirled around, her hand flying to her throat. Cosmo closed the door softly behind her, then raised her bright blue eyes to meet Amy's dark green ones, sparkling with sadness. "I thought you might be lonely out here, waiting for him."

"I'm not lonely," Amy answered quickly, a reflex action. She was unsure as to why she was telling Cosmo this, why she was rejecting her company, but she was certain that she would have rather been alone than in the company of the Seedrian, whose life was going perfectly at the moment.

"Oh," Cosmo said, in a tone that made it plain that she did not believe her. "Alright. I just thought -"

"Well, you thought wrong, didn't you?" Amy said, and her voice was suddenly hostile, intimidating. Cosmo recoiled slightly at this abrupt change in her emotions, her face full of sadness, and this, more than anything, was the trigger that launched Amy into speech.

"DON'T TRY TO UNDERSTAND ME, COSMO!" she yelled, her hands balled up into fists, and she was seized by the desire to hit something. "I DON'T NEED YOUR PITY, OR...OR UNDERSTANDING, OR WHATEVER IT IS YOU'RE TRYING TO GIVE ME! I JUST WANT TO BE ALONE RIGHT NOW!"

And with that, Amy turned and sprinted away from the Seedrian, running as fast as her legs could carry her, blinded by tears, gulping down freezing gasps of night time air, tripping and stumbling in her haste to put as much distance between herself and Cosmo-

Eventually, she collapsed, exhausted, upon a flat expanse of grass, dotted with innumerable wildflowers. She could not run anymore, could not stand another moment being Amy Rose, she wanted more than anything to escape from inside her own head, to be someone, _anyone, _other than herself.

The cause of her misery was, of course, Sonic, for whom she had shed more tears over than everyone else in her life put together. Sonic, who had risked everything to save her from Illumina's clutches, whom she loved with all her heart, so much that she had tried to die for him, and yet, even after all that, after they had journeyed into the depths of magic together, he _still _did not return her feelings for him.

_Face it, _whispered a cruel voice in her head, revelling in her despair. _He doesn't love you. All you are, all you have ever been, was a tag along, someone to be saved, an object, something to be cleaned and polished, but never held, never looked at..._

_ARE YOU INSANE? _demanded another voice in her head, one borne out of her desire to be eternally hopeful, something that came with being part of Sonic's friend. _DO YOU HONESTLY THINK THAT HE DOESN'T CARE ABOUT YOU? AMY, THINK OF WHAT HE'S JUST DONE!_

And Amy did; she travelled back to three weeks ago, when Maginaryworld had crept back into their lives, when Sonic had tried to protect her from Void, of how he had lost all control when Knuckles had kidnapped her, of how he had fought as hard as he could against Void capturing her back in their second trip to Maginaryworld. She thought of how he had broken down completely when she had sacrificed herself for him back in Eggman's vehicle hangar, of how furious his desire to see her alive again had been, how it had fuelled him in his quest to free her, how far he had travelled to see that wish come to fruition, the look of utter happiness that had been upon his face when they defeated Illumina together-

"Amy?"

She looked up immediately, her breath catching her throat, eyes swimming with tears as she recognized the speaker. Sonic was standing over her, a look of utter dismay upon his face as he grappled between his concern for her and his fear of emotional breakdowns.

"H-hi," she choked out, hastily brushing the moisture from her eyes. "I-I'm sorry, I didn't w-want you t-to find me like this, but -"

"Nah, it's cool," he muttered, sinking to his knees beside her, a smile playing about the corners of his mouth. "I was thinking something much worse happened...you know, the return of Illumina and Void, or that Lumina had been corrupted or something..."

Amy had to laugh, her mood already lightening. Sonic grinned tentatively at her, realizing that she was not about to collapse into hysteria, but as her laughter died away, a mature seriousness appeared in his eyes, something that she had never seen present in his face before.

"Amy," he said, taking a deep breath, letting his eye slide closed. "I...this is gonna be really hard for me to say, but I'm gonna do it anyway, because it's gotta come out. I – when you...when Illumina took you, I didn't know how I was going to live with myself. Because it was my fault you were in that crystal in the first place, and I thought that...that since she had you...I...I was never going to see you again."

His voice dropped to a whisper on the last word, but Amy did not notice; she was staring at him, captivated, unable to wrench her gaze away from him. Her brain had long since ground to a halt, her heart hammering in her ears, paralyzing her, rendering her incapable of anything but gaping at Sonic, listening to the words she had longed to hear for most of her life-

"I've been a jerk towards you, it's as simple as that," Sonic blurted out, staring pleadingly into her eyes. "And I can understand if you don't believe me, and if there's anything I can do to change that, then -"

"Kiss me," Amy whispered, her lips barely moving as she uttered her request. The words were out before she could take them back, spoken unthinkingly, irrationally. Her eyes widened in horror, terrified at what she had done, but she could not look away from Sonic, waiting to hear him say that he could not do that, to see him jump up and sprint away before he had to see her burst into tears-

But she did not expect him to stay where he was, for his eyes to stare intently into hers, as if searching for some sort of bluff. And then, with a speed only he could achieve, he reached up and grabbed her face with both gloved hands, tilting her chin upwards with one finger, staring at her in an almost contemplating way, the same way the sun and the moon's orbs had circled around Lumina before shooting into her-

And then he was kissing her, his lips soft yet firm, pressing against hers, incredibly gentle yet impossibly insistent. And then, like a punch to the face, Amy realized that Sonic had made this decision entirely on his own, that their world was not crumbling apart around them, or that there was a maniacal goddess bearing down upon them.

He had _chosen _to kiss her.

With a wild gasp, Amy returned the kiss, just as eager, if not more, than he, her arms wrapping around his neck, crushing her lips against his, revelling in the warmth of them, her chest pressing against his, his hands on her face, bodies intertwined-

After several minutes, or maybe a couple days, or perhaps a few years, they broke apart, Amy gasping for breath, her eyes huge, staring almost accusingly at Sonic, who looked rather stunned but exceptionally pleased with himself.

"For real?" she demanded, her voice no louder than a whisper. Sonic hesitated for the merest fraction of a second, then nodded, his face splitting into a grin.

"Unless this is a dream," he added, almost as an afterthought.

"Then I hope I never wake up."

Sonic rolled his eyes, unimpressed. "Please, no clichés, or I'm going to force myself to leave."

Amy laughed, a golden, bubbly sound. Suddenly, the enormity of reality crashed down upon her lie a thousand tidal waves, screaming with the joy of success, making her feel dizzy. The truth of it all, of what Tails had always been saying, what Knuckles had laughed about, what Rouge had gagged over, what Cream inferred, what Cosmo knew, what Eggman's snide little comments had always implied, hit her like a sack of rocks, knocking the breath from her lungs.

Sonic really did love her.


End file.
